Broken
by EmetMehmet
Summary: After she was forced to break up her friendship with Uzumaki Naruto, Hinata had sought means to become stronger for the boy. Discovering his dark secret on the eve of his birthday, she then tried finding him to beg for his forgiveness, only to witness an incident that will change her forever. Dark!Vengeful!Powerful!BorderlineYandere!Hinata ShyandKind!Naruto
1. 1. Prologue

Pitter patter went the rain, water droplets falling from the heavens above that reign.

Pitter patter went the rain, chattering teeth and freezing sensations flowing through the veins.

Pitter patter went the rain, thunder strikes and lightning bolts boasting their glory to all in vain.

Pitter patter went the rain, gales and maelstroms passing through the lands below along their lane.

Pitter patter…

Pitter patter...

_Pitter patter…_

It was supposed to be a bright and sunny spring day in the shinobi village of Konohagakure.

However, why was it dark and cloudy instead? Such was a question that boggles even the greatest of minds and thinkers as they ponder upon the cosmic signs above.

If one were to possess the ability to read the nature of the heavens and the earth, they themselves would find it peculiar that there was even rain today in the first place. In a more logical standpoint, there was no prior evidence that indicated the arrival of storm clouds in the vicinity of the area nor was there any strong winds blowing through the village beforehand. It just suddenly rained.

Odd indeed.

Let it be known that for those who have been touched by unseen knowledge, they understood the _**true**_ reason for such a downpour to occur. Every gust of wind, every speck of cloud, every flash of lightning, every drop of water; they each held a common purpose unknown to the citizens of the village below.

They were the representation of pain and anguish, a reflection of transgressions and past sins against one so pure and innocent that nature had sought upon itself to curse the lands and the inhabitants who dwell in them with misery and sorrow.

Did they not take heed the words uttered upon the lips of their leader and reflect on the consequences of their actions?

Some of them did; may their hearts be filled with bitterness and regret 'till life entered eyes of blue once more. However, they were still many who learned not their lessons as they continued on speaking evil and spreading falsehoods knowing full well the implications of their deeds. Yet, were they brave to act upon their oaths to cause further harm on the innocent ones?

They dared not tempt the threads of fate, not wanting to sign their own death warrants too early in life. For indeed, there was an angel that guarded their object of obsession with earnest, a gaze had she that could subdue even the largest of demons to submission possessing a power of ancient and old long forgotten through the passage of time.

While the streets of the village were nearly empty of the presence of man, the remaining villagers standing at the sidelines beneath roofs of shops and establishments in order to not get drenched in rain water, two young children were walking in the rain, one in front of the other hand in hand, their raincoats wet while their steps quiet and calculated.

The child who led the other was wearing a silver grey raincoat, her head covered by the hood in an attempt to keep her midnight blue locks dry- yet sadly her efforts were to no avail. She was wearing a pair of black tight ninja trousers, a pair of dark blue rubber boots on both sides of her feet while underneath the raincoat was a standard black-meshed kunoichi shirt. Adorned on the back of her raincoat was a crest of a red flame encircled by a yellow background carefully stitched to perfection fit for the status of prestige that belonged to the Hyuga Clan. The girl in question carried herself with silent confidence, her posture fine and regal as each stroke of movement was committed with an elegance and poise worthy of those born in the higher echelons of society.

An onlooker from the sides would assume the girl to be arrogant and stuck-up; while in some way they were right. She was both nothing yet something of the sort. To the ones who knew her long before, she was but a shy, meek and fragile girl with a heart of kindness that knew no bounds. Even if those around her often scoffed at her and took her kindness for granted, she would always try to be nice and polite in order to make peace with them.

Yet one look in her cold and scrutinizing lavender eyes was enough for the onlooker to know that the girl who was once trampled on like a doormat was no more.

The world did not deserve her kindness any longer.

As she walked together with her companion to a destination they both knew very well, she then felt a small tug on her hand which prompted her to stop her walking, her head turning back at her companion. A small smile appeared on her lips as lavender eyes met cerulean ones, a thinly red blush apparent on her companion's whisker-scarred cheeks as he immediately looked away, his shyness still ever-present in his mannerisms and attitude.

It was like looking in the mirror, her past-self manifesting in the form of her beloved companion.

The boy too was wearing the same kind of raincoat as her albeit in a paler shade of blue instead of her silver grey. Inside, he was wearing a light orange t-shirt with black hand warmers covering both his arms to his hands. His pants were also similar to the ones the young Hyuga wore while his boots were the same colour as his raincoat. Unlike her, the boy's posture was slumped and delicate, his senses on high alert as he watched his surroundings with absolute care. He was rather anxious to be out today, but he had already promised his companion that he would follow her on a walk around the village. He was oh so thankful that the streets were almost void of people but it did not stop the whispers from getting to him.

But he knew with her around, the whispers would easily go away making him feel safe by the comfort of her touch.

"Hi-Hinata-chan…." said the cerulean-eyed boy in a very quiet voice that was almost drained by the pattering of raindrops on the street pavements.

At the mention of her name, Hinata's eyes looked to the boy with utmost care and concern. She knew that it was difficult for him to be out of the Hyuga compound today and understood really well the strife that her blond companion was facing internally. However, she was so very happy and proud of him that he was willing to do so- even if it was for her sake and not his entirely. While his gaze was still down towards his boots, Hinata released her hold on his hand and reached to his beautiful face, stroking his right cheek gently with her thumb then kissing it with her soft and thin lips.

"What is it Naruto-kun?" she said in a sweet-voice reserved only for him.

"Wo-would.. would you umm…"

Hinata's heart clenched slightly for the boy in front of him, a trickle of tears threatening to escape her all-seeing eyes as she tried to fake an encouraging smile. It was so different in the past than it is now. She used to be the one who stuttered all the time when she spoke. She used to be the one who would hide in thick clothes because she was so insecure and unsure of herself. She used to be the one who was meek and shy, the same one who was scared of nearly everyone who looked at her in a threatening manner. She used to be the one.

How was it that Fate became so cruel?

Uzumaki Naruto used to be everything she wanted to be. He was everything that she was not- confident, brave, helpful, caring, patient, considerate, always smiling and so positive… Most importantly, they both shared the same _Nindo_.

They both believed that kindness was both a strength and virtue.

While Hinata hid in her timid little shell watching him from afar, it was Naruto that carried on their belief. When others cursed and insulted him, he replied to them with polite greetings and words. When he was treated unfairly by the instructors and students at the academy, he learned how to be patient and steadfast in handling others. When he was thrown out of shops and restaurants or was overcharged for his groceries, he fought for his rights as a customer in such a charismatic and diplomatic manner to the point where the owners had no choice but to treat him fairly. He would only respond in hostility if and only if he was threatened physically by those who wished to harm him.

As time went on, a small minority of the village who used to despise him came to know who the boy truly was and in turn, changed their negatively biased views on her dear one. His efforts were then reciprocated in the best of ways. She could name a few people whose hearts he won with his kindness. Iruka-sensei, Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, Old Lady Kimiko Naruto's previous landlady, Ko-san her bodyguard, Hanabi...

And she fell for him.

Hard.

Ever since she saved her from those bullies all those winters ago, she had sought to learn about the boy to the best of her ability- due to her own shyness, her only method on getting to know about her blond savior was to actively stalk him as often as five times per week. Day after day, what started out as mere admiration became something more and by the age of ten years old, the young Hyuga heiress was already completely in love with the sun-kissed blond.

She loved him so much that it hurt... **IT HURT SO MUCH TO SEE HIM BECOME LIKE THIS.**

If… if only that she had listened to her heart… if only that she had disobeyed her _**damned fucking**_ clan to avoid and ignore him earlier… if only she was brave enough then-

She immediately shrugged those thoughts away. There was no use in overthinking about past misgivings and unattainable possibilities. What has happened _happened_.

_That_ day… _**that**_ day she had sworn an oath to always be there for Naruto. To remind him that he was always loved for and cared for. To always protect him to the best of her ability.

And thus, with her prayers answered, she was granted a power; a power that could strike fear in the most powerful of men on this earth, divine in nature to the mortals below, held by her predecessors given by Kami-sama as a means to commit to her promise.

"... -buns?"

"Huh? I'm sorry Naruto I wasn't paying attention," Hinata said in slight wonderment, a sheepish smile appearing on her face.

"Wo-would you li-like to g-get some ci-cinnamon buns first?" the young blond repeated, his voice soft while his fingers were twisting the hem of his raincoat.

Hinata nodded childishly giving an adorable squeal which caused another reddish hue to appear on Naruto's face. The bakery was just a few blocks away and the young heiress had been craving for said delicacy for quite some time now. Grabbing the blond boy's hand, she immediately took a strad a dashed off with the blond following suit not caring for the splashes of water that was wetting the insides of their clothes.

As they reached the bakery, Hinata pushed the door excitedly with the blond in tow, a clinking sound of a bell attached to the top part of the door marking their entrance.

"Good Afternoon Akiyama-san!" the Hyuga heiress said rather loudly, accompanied by a greeting from the reluctant blond who gave a small bow as he avoided looking at the old bearded man wearing an apron behind a counter.

"Good afternoon to you too Hinata-sama and hello there Naruto-san. It seems that you two were a bit too enthusiastic while entering the shop today," the bearded man said in a jokingly manner with raised eyebrows as he pointed at the wet floor in front of the entrance where the two children were standing on.

Hinata gave an adorable closed-eyed sheepish smile as she removed the hood of her raincoat from her head exposing her dripping wet midnight blue locks cut in a Hime style. Naruto who saw the man's gaze flinched slightly as he turned his head towards the wooden floorboards, more interested in the carved outlines of the wood than to face his seemingly scrutinizing grey eyes.

Shaking his head slightly, a sad sigh escaped the man's lips as he noticed the blond's obvious fear of him. Oyashi Akiyama was a 50-year old baker who hailed previously from the city of Niigata located in the south east of Hi no Kuni. At age 18 he decided to draft himself in the Auxiliary Shinobi Corps, a ninja branch of Konoha that trained and received missions outside of the village while reporting directly to the Shinobi Council as well as the Hokage's office. After retiring from service at age 32 attaining the rank of Jounin-3rd Class, he then made a decision to move to Konohagakure with his wife and twin sons and start a bread shop there. Throughout his stay in Konoha, he was a happy man. His two sons were about to graduate from the Shinobi Academy as Genin while his wife was expecting a third child in the next winter. Life was good for him.

Until that dreaded day. The 10th of October in the year 978. The day he had lost the lives of his two sons.

Like many of the citizens of the village, he too was a victim of the Nine-Tailed Fox attack. The academy was having extra lessons for the graduating class that night to prepare the students for their graduation exam the week after. He still remembered the happy faces of his two sons after dinner, the last kisses on their foreheads as they left the house, the joyful laughter from his wife as the two tried to communicate with their unborn baby sister.

There was no graduating class that year.

The pain, it never went away even as time passed by. When a rumour had spread that the demonic spirit of the Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed in the body of a 'dead' child, he was one of many to march in the streets demanding that the Hokage get rid of the evil before it had the chance to grow. This period which was later known as 'Red October' was the bloodiest in the history of Konohagakure. The Sandaime had executed an official decree that any form of mention that the child was the Kyūbi reincarnated in public or in private eyes was unlawful and those who broke this law shall be subjected to immediate capital punishment; death.

The death toll in that particular month due to the law had reached approximately 627 people- men and women. The incident which sparked the highest death toll for this month, 563 was a violent confrontation between the ANBU and the citizens three days after the law had passed in the north-western part of the village where the boy was being held. The protesters who breached the location in an attempt to assassinate the child while shouting derogatory phrases of killing 'the demon' child were quickly put to death by the ANBU on guard. This served as a reminder that the Sandaime was ever-serious when the law was written. From then on the citizens had backed off immediately not wanting to challenge the word of the Hokage, releasing their frustrations in secret counsel between themselves instead.

Oyashi remembered the first time he met the boy, seven years ago when he was five years old. The young blond had entered his shop and was interested in buying a loaf of bread and a banana muffin. At first, he did not recognize the boy and gave him a small smile which he returned with a bigger and much more innocent one. The boy was oh so polite to him, talking in a soft and gentle voice as he attempted to strike a small conversation with the man.

Everything was fine.

Well… until his wife entered the bakery through the kitchen.

At the sight of the blond boy, she immediately went hysterical screaming profanities which he never heard coming from his darling wife. In puzzlement of the situation, he had attempted to calm her down and scold her for scaring the child but all previous interactions between himself and the boy turned to ashes when she called him 'The Uzumaki Brat'.

The incident still brought sleepless nights to the man. The memories haunted him… Haunted him with visual details of the horrible things he had done to the poor boy on that day.

He remembered striking the crying boy with his right hand, him falling on the wooden floorboards with a loud thud, blood dripping from his nose. He remembered grabbing the boy harshly on his right arm, his left hand pulling hard on his golden locks, his screams and begs for mercy left unheard as he led him to the door. He remembered throwing him like a sack of rocks outside his shop, him landing on stone pavements with a loud crack, his right arm broken. He remembered getting irritated by the boy's crying, taking the bread loaf and the muffin he desperately wanted and throwing them to him like trash as he believed the boy to be worse than scum.

What made it worse was that at that time he felt no regret, his actions perfectly fine in his mind. He even felt proud of himself.

Then suddenly after that incident, the sales at the bakery saw a dramatic increase as almost everyday, his shop became flooded with customers. Many of them had congratulated him for his job well done, complimenting him for standing up against the 'Uzumaki Brat' coming from both civilian and ninja alike. He remembered telling his wife that there was a silver lining to the 'demon's' visit as they now had enough money to expand their shop as well as for their daughter's future enrolment at the Shinobi Academy.

Then his perspective of the world came crashing down the day he met Hyuga Hinata.

Memories of her as a shy little girl who walked into his bakery with large innocent pale orbs for eyes came to mind. Noticing her unmarked forehead and expensive looking clothes, he deduced that she was the daughter of Hyuga Hiashi, patriarch of the Hyuga clan.

He remembered the heiress asking him for fourteen cinnamon rolls and a banana muffin to which he complied. When he asked her who she was buying them for, she said that the cinnamon rolls was for herself and the banana muffin was for a friend. However, he did not need years of shinobi training to know that the girl was rather smitten with this so-called 'friend' as a blush appeared on her face when she mentioned about the muffin.

Wanting to tease the young heiress, he then asked the girl to describe her 'friend' to which she was reluctant at first. At the prospect of three additional cinnamon rolls, the girl then blurted out her thoughts on the boy to him.

To his surprise, the little girl did not describe his physical attributes at first, rather his personality instead. She considered him to be the nicest boy she has ever met and often watched him from afar. He was very polite to adults and was kind to his fellow classmates even if he was often bullied by them. When insulted or ridiculed, he would never give in to those provocations unless they happened to be physical. She had also seen him rescue a baby fox who was being kicked by several kids while she was on her way back from school. She told him that the boy was her inspiration to be true to herself and that being kind was not a weakness, instead it was an unparalleled strength.

Listening to the young girl's story, Oyashi could not help but feel admiration for the boy who won the heiress's heart. There were not many who possessed such beautiful character especially in the shinobi world. Even amongst Samurai, it is very rare to see those who would prioritize the purity of the heart instead of the code of honour.

And when he asked her his name, the meek little girl suddenly bolted up, replaced momentarily by a confident young lady on her way to becoming a kunoichi. In a beautiful voice, she then said the name of the boy she came to love in the most gentle of ways.

Uzumaki Naruto

At the mention of his name, Oyashi was brought to a jolting shock, the memory of the demon boy he threw out of his shop five years ago coming to mind. There was an unyielding part of the man that wanted to argue with the heiress on how wrong she was about the boy, telling her that it was just a sick trick in order to lure her towards an early death. Yet, at the sight of those innocent lavender eyes, those words could not be uttered, his tongue remaining stiff, his lips sealed.

And thus after making her payment and exiting the shop, the baker stood behind his counter in solemn contemplation, a war of interest between the two sides of perspectives raging on in his consciousness. It felt like hours as he was deep in his thoughts. Was it true? Was he not the demon child that they knew him as for all these years? Was he truly innocent of the crimes the Kyūbi committed against Konoha? Was he just a boy?

In denial he rejected the notion of him just being an ordinary child. The most probable case was that the young heiress was placed under a strong Genjutsu to make her believe that he wasn't a demon. In slight panic, he immediately closed down his shop and ran out towards the North District to warn the Hyuga clan head on the matter directly.

And yet by the knowledge of the Unseen, it seemed that Fate favoured irony over intended disposition entirely.

On his way to the Hyuga compound, he stumbled upon the one person he wanted to avoid at all costs.

There in the middle of street was Uzumaki Naruto, sitting down on his knees as he was petting a grey cat affectionately with a small smile on his face and a familiar paper bag in his left hand. A bag that came from his bakery.

Oyashi stood hidden in the corner of an intersection just a few blocks away from the Hyuga compound, his grey eyes watching intently the scene playing in front of him as he used every ounce of stealth training he had to remain secluded from the boy. A burning sensation had sprouted in his chest as his gaze fell onto the boy, the precious memories of his two sons appearing in his mind. The urge to mercilessly hurt the ten-year old boy in front of him was ever-coaxing. Hate, it was both a tempting and powerful force indeed. He loathed the boy with such a passion that if it weren't for the Sandaime's Law, he would have told the boy his 'true' origins and watch in satisfaction as the realization of what the demon had done came to be. His innocence be damned, he will always and truly stay a demon in his eyes.

And so he listened and watched, hoping to catch the demon show its true nature in solitude to prove his point.

Oh how wrong he was.

...

"_That tickles Shiro-chan," the boy said as he giggled, the white coloured cat licking his palm affectionately._

_"It's been a long time since I've seen you too ya know. How's the left paw doing now by the way?"_

_The cat who seemed to understand what the boy was saying raised his left paw to show him, meowing in delight as if thanking the young Uzumaki for his previous assistance._

_The boy sighed in relief as he continued to pat his feline friend. Other than the Hokage, his landlady, the cooks at his favourite restaurant and his one very pretty Hyuga classmate who was often nice to him but would stay away from him most of the time yet was also always there to follow him around, everyone else either hated him or looked at him with indifference. From the moment he could talk and understand the world around him, he realized that he was always treated like an outcast by others for reasons unknown. He was very used to the occasional stares of apathy and the whispers that came with them as he passed through the streets of the village. Even at the academy, he was usually viewed as a delinquent by the school body, undergoing through punishments and the like for even the smallest of things. He was also ostracized by his schoolmates, never making a friend throughout his two years at the academy._

_But Naruto was patient- his Nindo required him to be so._

_At least the animals were nice to him. Unlike humans who considered him impure and avoided him like the plague, animals would often come up to him and keep him company when he was feeling lonely. The swing beneath the tree in front of the academy was his favourite place in the whole village. This spot was where he would meet up and play with his many critter friends; squirrels, rabbits, cats, dogs and sometimes even foxes. He even had names for each animal, bringing with him snacks or left over food from dinner to share with them._

_He had a pet fox at home too, one he named Akira-chan after rescuing her from mean children who were hurting her on the way back from school one day._

_What many did not know was that when Naruto talks to animals, he could understand them, their voices sounding human to his ears. He reckoned that it was a Kekkei Genkai of some sort and was very proud of it. However, after reading through many books on Shinobi Clans with blood limits, he had yet to stumble upon any kind of information on any families with his ability. This saddened him greatly. He hoped that after acquiring information about his blood limit, maybe he could find out if he had any family left out there too._

_After all, the boy did not know who his parents were. He was from birth, clanless and alone._

_"Naruto-sama, what is that in the paper bag?" Shiro asked in a meow. "It smells really sweet and delicious!" the cat said as she brought her snout towards the bottom of the bag, sniffing the contents._

_Naruto who was already used to being referred to with the honorific '-sama' by the animals he talked to, gave the feline a small yet joyful smile._

_"Oh, this?" Naruto said pointing to the bag. "On my back from doing some chakra control exercises at Training Ground 19, I found this paper bag beneath the tree where I would usually rest with a note attached to it saying that it was addressed to me and was a gift."_

_"I didn't ask where you got the bag," Shiro meowed back giving him a cat version of an eye roll. "I meant what's in the bag?"_

_"Oh sorry for not answering the question Shiro-chan hehe… Well, it's a banana muffin."_

_"Oh! I love banana muffins. Can I have some Naruto-sama? Pweety pweety pwease," the cat begged, using its cute big green eyes to convince the boy even further._

_"Alright, alright, we'll eat together okay?"_

_Naruto then sat himself down crossed-legged by the sidewalk, his back touching the wall of a building as he called the cat to sit on its lap to which she happily complied. He then opened the paper bag and took out the muffin, the aroma of the pastry filling the air. Shiro-chan's irises grew wide as she caught the scent of the muffin, drips of saliva escaping the hungry cat's mouth._

_"Shiro-chan please be patient and don't drool on me," the blond said with a small laugh breaking a piece of the muffin and handing it to the white cat. "Here ya go."_

_Meowing a happy thanks, Shiro then greedily took the muffin piece from Naruto and chewed the delicacy with earnest, savouring the sweet taste of banana on her tongue. This earned a hearty chuckle from the blond as he watched his little friend eat the small piece. A fluffy yet fuzzy feeling appeared in his chest when he took a bite from the muffin; it made him feel content and happy. The two then continued to eat in silence, the only sounds present being the blowing winds and the occasional meow from Shiro who wanted another piece of muffin crumble._

_As Oyashi watched the exchange between the boy and the cat, he was struck in wonderment at the situation at hand. Here was the boy talking to the feline as if he could actually understand it. Was this some sort of demonic power the village did not know about? But then, shouldn't a demon talk about demonic things like death and destruction instead of asking for a cat's well being and sharing food with said cat? What in the world was happening here?_

_"That was very delicious Naruto-sama," Shiro said as she stretched atop of the boy's lap. She then proceeded to get off said lap to face the boy who was still sitting down. "I thank you for the meal," the cat meowed, giving the boy a courteous bow of respect._

_The boy bowed his head in return, already used to these kinds of rituals from animals in order to show respect to him. As he got older while getting to know his other animal friends, they had somehow sanctified him honouring him as their 'Prince'- a title which had peaked the curiosity of the blond. When asked about the title- whether they be cats, rabbits, mice, dogs, birds or any other animal, the reply was always more or less the same; they simply could not answer, claiming it to be an animal thing which humans could not comprehend._

_Naruto in childish and innocent fashion ended up rather frustrated with the repetitive answers from the animals. In the end, the boy decided to just leave the mystery be knowing full well that further investigation would lead him nowhere._

_The oddity of everything did not stop here however._

_With regards to the peculiarity in their veneration, their treatment of him had also extended to a point where the boy's daily life became similar to that of princesses in western story books he had once read as a child in the Hokage's library. Birds would come in his home to serenade their beautiful songs in melodious voices to wake him up for school, dogs would stalk him around in crowded and quiet areas acting as his bodyguards just in case anybody decided to attack him, foxes (other than Akira-chan) would leave carcasses of wild fowl and rabbit in his home from their hunts in the forest in times when he could not afford meat to eat and the list goes on._

_At first, Naruto was pretty shaken up when he realized that he befriended both prey and predator knowing very well that they were natural enemies in the ecosystem. However after confronting his friends about it, he was given a beautiful yet morbid answer that would always stay fresh in his mind 'till life escapes his flesh._

_**"We are children of Nature Naruto-sama. Our characteristics, our provisions and misgivings, what we like and don't like, who we are as creatures; all of this has already been decreed by the Almighty Kami-sama and thus we must obey," said a fox named Aoi to the boy.**_

_**"Indeed dear Prince, the fox speaks truth" added a rabbit named Getsu as he approached the boy climbing into his lap. "However, this is not always the case. You are a special child Naruto-sama. Only by your side can we animals escape the shackles of beasthood and return to the state of mind similar to that of our summoning counterparts. Our instincts have been wired for survival and because of that we have no choice but to follow the rules given to us,"**_

_**Tears of sadness flowed out from a pair of bright and beautiful cerulean eyes as the two unlikely creatures did their best to comfort the blond boy who was crying underneath a tree in the now empty academy compound. He could not believe it. His dear friends… They were natural enemies and he could do nothing about it.**_

_**"Please do not cry young Prince... Your tears, they are too precious to waste on mere creatures like us…" said the rabbit in a gentle voice like that of a doting mother.**_

_**At this request, the boy cried even louder refusing to stop as the realization was too hard for his pure heart to bear.**_

_**"B-But how- *sniffles* I- just, you-y-you g-guys are my- I don't want that… *shakes head in protest* I don't want that…" lamented the child as he cried into the fox's red fur.**_

_**"Young Prince please listen to Getsu… Don't cry… Please Naruto-sama..." the fox yipped in sadness, howling a pain-filled howl clearly affected by his master's sorrow.**_

_**The crying ceased to stop, the boy now huddled up by the fox that was his size with a brown rabbit in his lap. They stayed in that position for what felt like hours giving comfort to the sun-kissed blond doing the best they could. At last the boy calmed down, his breathing steady with red-coloured eyes and mucus flowing down his nose.**_

_**"There… there is a way Naruto-sama…"**_

_And a way there was indeed. In order for the boy to protect his friends from each other, they told him a secret of his unique blood limit. After informing him of his powers, the animals made him solemnly promise to keep his ability a secret except to those he trusted completely._

_The secret was that the boy had the ability to 'control' animals of all kinds with just a command, an ability he named 'Speech of Beasts' due to it being different from any other known blood limit- it was not an elemental affinity like Ice Release nor was it physical affinity like a Doujutsu. His power lies in his words and intent. With the knowledge of his ability at hand, the boy had then given his commands, ordering his animal friends to not hurt or maim each other outside of his presence. They then obeyed._

_"Naruto-sama I'm so glad that I met you today!" meowed Shiro loudly as she jumped up and down in a circle-like dance, showing her contentedness to the Uzumaki boy who smiled a small smile at the cat's antics as he brought himself up on his feet to pet her._

_"Will you be able to buy another one for me tomorrow? I want a whole piece to myself,"_

_At the mention of buying another muffin, Naruto had immediately stopped his petting of Shiro and slumped his shoulders, a noticeable frown appearing on his face as the happiness that he felt before suddenly faded away._

_Taking notice of the young Prince's change in demeanour, Shiro then rubbed herself on the boy's leg knowing that something was just not right. Being the brave tabby cat that she was, she then asked him what made him feel this way._

_"Why are you sad Naruto-sama? Did I say something wrong?"_

_"No no it's not that… am just sorry that I can't buy you that muffin tomorrow Shiro-chan…"_

_"It's fine Naruto-sama! We can always eat together next time and-"_

_"No no… Not next time either I suppose…" interrupted the boy in a quiet voice, his head tilted down slightly fighting the urge to cry while faking a smile to assure the cat that he was fine._

_But in all honesty, the boy was far from fine._

_Oyashi felt his heart clenched tightly watching the boy's smile from where he stood as a heavy yet choking sensation came sprouting in his chest. A glance at the boy's figure was enough for him to know that the Uzumaki child was hurting badly when he said that he could not purchase the muffin for the cat. The old man did not understand why he felt this way. A moment ago, he would have been glad to see the demon beaten to death or burned on wooden stakes by his fellow villagers yet now his feelings had changed entirely._

_He pitied the boy, pitied him with all his heart._

_When did the demon became a boy in his eyes?_

_"I… I remembered when I was five years old, I was passing through the north-eastern district near Suna Square. It was a bad day for me, I just got kicked out of the orphanage the night before and all I had were the clothes on my back, a small bag containing all of my belongings and a pouch full of coins I managed to collect without the matron noticing."_

_"I was pretty hungry not eating the day before and my stomach was aching really badly. At the time Ji-san wasn't in the village so when I went to Hokage Tower they threw me out and told me to stay in the streets where I belonged. I was very lonely and scared but I was starving so being the kid that I was, I then wandered around the village hoping to find a place to eat."_

_"Everywhere I went, the moment the workers saw me they immediately stopped me from entering their establishments. Some even threw sharp objects like stones and knives at me telling me to go away. I remembered crying my eyes out, begging them to let me eat something but they refused even when I told them I had money."_

_"In my heart I made a prayer, a short prayer to Kami-sama begging Him to help me. I asked that He made it easy for me to find food and to not let me suffer the pangs of hunger. With wobbly legs and sharp gastric pains aching my whole body, I continued my journey. I… I refused to give up putting my trust in Him to ease my burdens."_

_"Then just outside the Wind Children's Quarter, my little nose took in an incredibly sweet scent, something I have never ever smelled before. Following the scent, I then stumbled upon a humble little bakery built at a corner lot of a row of buildings with the sign 'Autumn Hill Bakery House' written on top."_

_"I didn't know why but there was a nagging feeling in my head telling me that this was the place where I will finally get something to eat. So before entering, I told myself that I had to be much more polite than usual and to remember my manners in hopes that the owner would have the heart to sell me his pastries."_

_"When the doorbell to the entrance chimed, I immediately gave a small bow to the owner of the shop who gave me a small smile in return with jolly grey eyes. At that very moment, I felt extremely elated; never had an adult other than Hokage-sama looked at me as kindly as this man before. So then I went straight to counter and asked him what was the sweet smelling scent that was filling his shop."_

_"The man then chuckled at the question complimenting me for my politeness. He kindly answered that he had just finished baking a tray of banana muffins. Without hesitation, I then asked him how much does a muffin cost in which he replied that it was 50 ryo each."_

_"Having only 150 ryo in my small pouch, I asked him if he had something cheap and much more bigger than the muffin telling him that I was really hungry so, he then pointed out at the corner of his store were bread loaves who sold for only 100 ryo."_

_"That time was one of the happiest moments of my life Shiro-chan," said Naruto, his voice cracking as he sat against the wall once more with the tabby in his lap. "Ever since I understood the world around me, no one had treated me as kindly as that man did. Even in the orphanage, the caretakers never even smiled at me, leaving me alone most of the time. They were only there to give me food or lock me up in the 'naughty' room if to punish me even if I didn't do anything."_

_"As I was about to pay the man at the counter, a lady entered the bakery through the kitchen. Wanting to show good manners and greet the lady, I then gave her a bow. B-but s-sh-she…"_

_"Naruto-sama?" meowed the cat in an inaudible voice as he felt a trickle of warmth wetting her the back of her white fur._

_"She st-started screaming when she saw me. Ca-calling me horrible names. I was just so scared and I started crying. The man, he-he wanted to defend me when the lady tried to hit me, and for that one moment I felt safe. Th-there was someone who tried to protect me, I f-felt really touched and instead of sad tears, the tears that fell were happy ones."_

_"What happened next Naruto-sama?" Shiro asked._

_"Everything went wrong after that. When the lady called me the 'Uzumaki brat', the man's face immediately changed, his ha-happy eyes becoming dark and full of hate. The fear, it came back twice as bad as it was before. Wh-when I t-tried to apologize he-he-he…"_

_"He what Naruto-sama?"_

_"He hit me in the face really hard."_

_A wave of pain and anguish struck Oyashi in folds as he realized what he had done. He felt like his heart was getting pierced by the sharpest of needles for every word the boy said. Never had he felt such regret for his actions before, not even during his youth as a ninja. All these years, he and everyone else mocked the child for being a demon, cursing his name to the deepest depths of hell while doing everything they could to hurt him without the Hokage knowing._

_All this time, he thought he was right._

_But Lo, he was not._

_For indeed it was said in books of old that the truth shall set you free._

_Yet for others, it was a fate worse than death, knowing the truth…_

_They were the **true** **demons**._

_All the man wanted to do at the moment was run, run away as far as he could and close his ears making everything he listened to disappear but his feet, they remained immobile not wanting him to get away._

_This was his punishment._

_Hearing the woes and pleas of a pure and innocent orphan who had been wronged._

_"It was painful, so so very painful Shiro-chan," the boy said as he wept, wiping his eyes with the collar of his already worn out orange T-shirt. The tabby who was listening to the story felt her eyes water for the boy, the pain and sorrow in her heart so very human-like._

_"I-I t-told h-him a-and b-begged him to st-stop but but but… *hyperventilates* he didn't s-so h-he grabbed me on my arm hard and pu-pulled my hair and and th-threw me o-out of his b-bakery…"_

_"When I-I fell I b-broke my a-arm and it was so pa-painful Shiro-chan I-I-I…"_

_What was previously silent weeping now became outright bawling, all the pent up emotions finally released. The boy had never told this story to anyone before, preferring to forget and leave it be mostly because he had no one to confide in except Kami. But now, with old wounds opened, he could not help but cry at the pain._

_Shiro-chan felt a mix of emotions; sadness, anguish, pity, and most importantly anger. Anger towards the man, anger towards the woman, anger towards the orphanage staff, anger towards the village in general… At that moment, the cat swore an oath, one that she will commit to the best of her ability._

_Retribution for Naruto-sama._

_It took the boy ten minutes to calm down, his shirt wet with his tears while his beautiful feminine like face was covered in dirt and mucus. Taking in deep breaths, he then straightened his back against the wall and closed his eyes momentarily, meditating in a way a child would._

_"But then…"_

_"Hmm?" meowed the cat in genuine curiosity._

_"As I was about to raise my aching body up and drag myself away from the store, the man threw the banana muffin and bread loaf to my direction. I-I picked them up you see my hunger getting the better of me. Then I walked to an empty alley just a few meters away and hid there, afraid that someone might take the opportunity to attack me seeing that I was in a weakened state."_

_"I dusted off the bread loaf and muffin as cleanly as I could, although it took me every ounce of control just to keep myself from hogging the pastries. When I looked at the banana muffin, the memory of the event played in my head once more. I tried to force myself to forget when I looked at it but it was still fresh in my mind. Closing my eyes, I pushed those thoughts away and then I t-took a bite…"_

_"It was the most delicious thing I've ever had in my entire life. My eyes immediately became flooded with bittersweet tears as the sweetness lingered in my mouth. During my stay at the orphanage, food consisted of cold rice, stale bread and if I was lucky enough milk and pieces of meat. So for me to taste the muffin... A-at that moment, I felt thankful. Thankful that I was able to enjoy the best meal of life."_

_"But do you not hate the man Naruto-sama? Do you not hate him for what he did to you?" Shiro asked in irritated fascination, not towards the young Prince but towards the situation in general._

_"I… I admit there exists a part of me that dislikes the man for being cruel to me and that I will always be wary with regards to him, but…"_

_"How could one so cruel create something so beautiful?"_

_..._

Those words.

They would forever be etched in his mind.

They haunted him, taunted him, reminded him of his transgressions against the boy.

They cut deeper than the sharpest of steel and stung greater than the most potent of poisons.

Not only did he physically and mentally harmed the boy, he had also used his sufferings for his own gain. His wealth; every grain of barley, every drop of wine, every penny he earned… His current prestige was built on the fact that he was the first among the shop owners in the village who dared lay a hand on him after 'Red October'.

Never had he felt so utterly disgusted with himself as he was at that very moment.

He remembered running back to the bakery in a dazed and mentally-unstable state, heading immediately to the bathroom as he released chunks upon chunks of vomit for a whole hour in the toilet bowl. He had not realized that he was crying even, the memory of his actions playing on loop in mind never missing even the slightest of details. He was soon found by his ten year old daughter unconscious on the bathroom floor after his emotional breakdown.

His wife and daughter had brought him to the hospital where he had awoken in a state of disarray, his heart monitor going off the charts. Even as he slept he could not find peace, his dreams plagued with nightmares of the boy. However instead of the incident playing in his mind, the nightmares were far worse.

In a distorted world of black and red, there lying on the ground bloodied and mangled beyond repair was little five year old Naruto crying and begging for mercy as faceless individuals tortured him. He remembered not being able to move in the dream as he shouted for perpetrators to stop, screaming a top his lungs to get their attention. The pain-filled shrieks of the boy were absolutely horrifying, not even a hard-core veteran like him could stomach such macabre.

Yet the most gruesome scene in that dream was none other than seeing his two sons, their corpses twisted and burned, stabbing the boy repetitively with a large needle, a sick and cruel smiles adorned their distorted faces.

...

_**"No.. KAZUMA!!!! TAKUMA!!!" shouted Oyashi as he watched helplessly his two sons torture the child he used to call 'demon'.**_

_**"What's wrong father? Isn't this what you wanted? The demon paying for his sins against us? What better way than for us to punish him ourselves?" the corpse who was missing half his face known as Kazuma said, twisting his head in a horrifying and unnatural manner as he gave his father a creepy grin.**_

_**"Kazuma's right father. It's because of him that we're dead. The demon deserves it," the other boy named Takuma added, his body crooked and twisted while his right arm was burned to a crisp.**_

_**"NO! BOTH OF YOU STOP IT! NARUTO ISN'T A DEMON!! PLEASE I BEG YOU TO STOP IT THIS INSTANT. STOP IT NOW!!!!!!"**_

_**"It seems the demon has gotten to your mind father," Kazuma said in a sad sigh as he pierced the needle into the boy's eye sockets, earning a shriek of absolute pain from the boy. "But don't worry, we will free you of its clutches."**_

_**"We love you Papa."**_

_**...**_

Oyashi had been hospitalized for three days due to the incident under the pretense of mental and chakra exhaustion. In those three days the man could not utter even a single syllable, the guilt eating him up triggering a set of psychiatric conditions the man did not realize he had- _Post Traumatic Stress Disorder _being one of them. After almost a week of not speaking, he had then told his wife the truth of the situation.

To say that she was surprised, was, to say the least, appaling- the woman was shocked to the point of speechlessness. She too did not believe the reality that surrounded the boy but knowing her husband for forty one years of her life, she knew him to speak the truth. Not long after, a flood of tears had escaped her eyes with regret being the main emotion. At the spur of the moment, she asked him that they meet up with the Uzumaki child and beg for his forgiveness. Woefully, the man declined. When asked the reasons why, the man looked away from his wife with shame in his grey eyes.

_"I'm… I'm too much of a coward Erika… But most importantly, it is best that I stay away from Naruto for now," he answered, telling his wife about the boy's thoughts on him when he overheard his conversation with the cat._

The confession was not without its precedencential consequences however.

A series of calamities had struck him and his family lasting for weeks after getting discharged out of the hospital. Pigeons suddenly began to appear in front of his bakery, leaving their feces and their feathers scattered around the streets. Mice ran rampant in his shop, stealing food and ruining baking ingredients before he had the chance to use them. Dogs would urinate at the walls and windows of the bakery, sometimes leaving big smelly 'accidents' along the way. The worst of it all was a fire which had burned a quarter of his shop away- thankfully he arrived on time that fateful morning putting the fire out with a water Jutsu before it managed to spread.

He could've sworn that he saw white fur coming out from an open window at the side of the building when the fire was extinguished.

And he wasn't the only one to be victim of these attacks.

Upon the village were sent plagues, planned and plotted at the vehemence of those who sought justice at their own hands.

Or which in this case, _**paws**_.

Shiro-chan true to her oath, held a meeting with Naruto's other animal friends in the Nara Forestry Reserve where she gave them a detailed account on the abuse that the blond faced throughout his life. Seething with rage over the transgressions committed against their young Prince, the animals could not believe that the village's hatred for the blond was so deep-rooted to such an extent. It was very obvious to them that the child experienced constant mistreatment and abuse at the hands of the village throughout his daily life but being the boy that he was, would often mellow their actions or deny them outright, not wanting his friends to know the truth of his situation for fear of being labelled a burden to them.

To hear first hand what the boy had gone through in full, it was horrifying to say the least.

Each of them had their own bits of pieces of moments when they witnessed Naruto getting harassed or abused, but at the warrant of the child, did not act upon their impulses to defend him. Now, after a wide opening experience in seeing the full picture, they had with confidence, made their choice.

Enough was enough.

Possessing intelligence similar to that of summoning animals due to their connection with the boy, they had then formulated several plans to incite their revenge against Konohagakure and her citizens for crimes against their Prince. However, at the suggestion of the more level-headed members- the extremists among them being the rabbits, squirrels and Tora, the cat of the local feudal Lord's wife, wanted to burn the village to the ground-,they had opted to use methods which were deemed humane yet carried the significance of punishment, lest they gained the displeasure of their young Master.

Naruto did confront them later on however after hearing the first few instances of mischief being reported in the village. Sadly, to his dismay, his efforts to stop them were thwarted immediately after Shiro-chan and the rest of his friends mentioned his honour and that by allowing villagers to do that to him without any retribution of any kind was a direct insult to them as well for the one who spoke the Tongue Of Beasts represented all beasts in general.

This was of course, one of the other few truths he managed to get from the animals regarding the mystery of his Kekkei Genkai.

Thus, after relenting in the end and several negotiations with the 'clanheads' of each species- rabbit, fox, crow, cats, dogs, squirrels, pigeons, mice, and surprisingly deer- who wanted to participate in these 'hunts' as they called it, the boy had given them the specific period of time for them to act while making them promise not to continue on if it meant harming those responsible severely or to the point of death.

No one had expected such things to happen. It was supposed to be a peaceful summer in the month of July. Children were supposed to be outside playing with each other while adults would go about their business as per usual albeit in a more relaxed manner. Festivals were supposed to be the talk of the season bringing civilians and ninja alike closer together as they celebrated them with joy and delight.

Yet, sadly not all things in life are to be expected.

Three months. Three months did these punishments lasted, the attacks seemingly random even to the best among the ANBU.

When the first of the attacks happened- the key locations being the orphanage in which Naruto used to live in, several prominent restaurants throughout the village and five clan compounds which included the Hyuga and the Akimichi compounds- the Civilian Council in their collective yet lacking minds placed their blame on the boy. However, without any evidence to support their claims, their accusations were left moot.

While the Civilian Council was dragged to overly dramatics about the boy as a potential offender to these acts of vandalism and mild terror, the Shinobi Council was left to their own silent devices albeit in a state of worry. Rationally, the appearance of common animals in their compounds would usually not raise any alarms, but to know that these 'dumb' beasts were responsible in destroying their properties and hospitalizing several of their clan members changed their perception entirely. However, the most worrisome and distressing matter which contributed to their concern was in fact the presence of the Crow Summoning Clan in the village.

The Crows of Saiko Forest that reside a hundred and twenty miles north-east of Konohagakure is a Summoning Clan well-known specifically for their Genjutsu prowess and mastery of the Illusionary Arts. In oral and literary traditions throughout the Elemental Nations, the crow was said to be a bird that is most closely related to Death due to their physical appearance, frightful caws and natural habits often inhabiting dense and dark forests or places associated with Death.

Even though the use of Summoning Clans was in itself not a commodity among the shinobi of Konohagakure especially for those belonging to a clan, the Crows however have a long and dark history to begin with. Like most Summoning Clans, there existed a set of requirements for a Summoner to possess in order for said Summoner to be bound to an animal, the most common among them were ancestry or familial relations. For example, the Monkey Clan had always been bounded to the Sarutobi Clan for hundreds of years due to historical reasons but the Hatakes acquired the Dog Contract of Itsumo Valley after winning it from another clan during the First Shinobi War in Lightning Country.

Why was this a concern? Because the Crows have always bounded to one clan and one clan only, accepting only one Summoner per lifetime until said Summoner had passed on.

So, two questions would come to mind with regards to the Crows.

Which clan do they serve?

The Uchiha Clan.

And who was the current summoner?

S-Rank Criminal Uchiha Itachi.

Hence after the scuffle with the Civilian Council was settled, the Shinobi Council and the Hokage held another meeting to discuss the possibility of Uchiha Itachi being the main instigator of the attacks. After much debate, their hypothesis on the situation was dropped immediately by the Sandaime who together with Nara Shikaku concluded that the damages done towards the village portrayed much delinquency in terms of intention rather than acts of terrorism. Moreover, the presence of other animals in the fray did not strengthen the argument that the Uchiha traitor was ever involved. Hence, with heavy reluctance, the Shinobi Council had no choice but to leave the matter be while trying their best to protect themselves from these attacks the best they could.

Not even the power of the God of Shinobi by their side could deter the will of Mother Nature.

The most devastating - or rather the most satisfying in Shiro-chan's opinion- of the attacks was a finale orchestrated by the Crows who swarmed Konohagakure in the hundreds and by casting a potent Genjutsu on themselves similar to that of Bunshin no Jutsu, made them look like they came in hundreds of thousands. It was the biggest of the attacks as the birds made sure to swarm the village and fly above in hauntingly beautiful circular patterns covering the summer sky in darkness. Mass hysteria and panic second only to the night of October 10th became apparent among the ranks whether they be civilian, shinobi or even clan heads themselves. At the instant when the crows made their appearance, a total lock down of the village was ordered by the Hokage as they prepared themselves for an imminent attack by a likely enemy.

The streets were cleared of people, the civilians getting escorted to their respective houses in the area. Sentries that were hidden and spread across the village state were activated according to emergency protocol, a squad of 9 members per sentry. Clan heads of their respective houses had returned immediately to their compounds, fortifying security and taking charge of the reins of leadership for the sake of self-preservation. Uchiha Sasuke had been retrieved immediately from his clan compound which he currently resided in at the time and was brought to a safe room in the Hokage Tower guarded by a platoon of ANBU. In their perspectives, it was most likely that the former Uchiha prodigy wanted to finish what he started with haste.

And so in anxious silence, the villagers waited anticipating their enemy to appear anywhere in the vicinity. The Hokage had even placed his best sensor-nin all across the village directly on call to him through modern communication devices, incase the Uchiha emerged from a different location instead.

And so they waited.

And waited.

And waited.

…

Fifteen minutes had passed. The sense of dread was slowly disappearing from the atmosphere yet the Leaf Shinobi knew not to be complacent putting their guards up while staying alert. The Sandaime and his guards who stood above the roof of the Hokage's Tower were left in confusion, the crows still spinning above them in midair as their minds collectively possessed similar thoughts regarding their current situation.

Why wasn't anything happening yet?

Then as if answering their heart's intentions, a rain of feathers fell from the sky, covering the streets, buildings and trees of Konoha in a mass of black. As the feathers dropped, slowly, one by one, the clouds of murders began to dwindle in number and after five long excruciating minutes, they had then disappeared from Konoha's airspace completely.

Never in the life of Sarutobi Hiruzen had he witnessed such events unfold right in front of his pale brown eyes throughout his entire shinobi career. The intensity of the construct of said situation was so very real to the point that he still felt goosebumps even after the departure of the crows from his village. In his opinion opinion of course, the attack had ended rather anticlimactically in actuality. There had to be a kick somewhere, the 65-year old Kage just knew it.

As he analysed and processed the information at hand, hoping to find the true purpose of the prior demonstration, he then felt a soft tickle on his face, shaking him from his depths of his thoughts. Picking up the black object in curiosity, his eyes had then opened up wide in surprise as he read a short inscription written on the feather in red ink.

_**Enemies of the heir,**_

_**Beware.**_

Only one thing appeared in the mind of the Hokage after reading the message.

His paperwork load had just tripled this month.

It seemed that every literate citizen of Konohagakure whether they be child or adult became aware of the message after the lock down order had been lifted. The civilian reactions were more or less the same- they were scared out of their wits wondering who the heir was and what relation he had with all the attacks that occured in the village throughout these three months. The shinobi side had similar thoughts on the matter as well. However unlike their civilian counterparts, they held no fear with regards to the threat placing their faith firmly in the military might of Konoha.

And thus another meeting was held immediately in the Hokage Tower that day as soon as the lock down order was lifted, the main topic of discussion very obvious even to the most densest of council members.

Lasting for 18 hours with four breaks in between, the meeting was the longest ever held in the history of Konoha during peacetime. About 219 testimonies and reports were read by Murakumo Kurama, the Secretary of the Hokage's Council and Head of the Kurama Clan, explaining in detail the individual attacks made upon individuals and their properties by 'forces of nature' during the past three months. The reading itself lasted for two and a half hours, uninterrupted and continuous as members wrote their views and rebuttals that were to be presented after each and every reading had finished. Thus, after the council was well informed of the matter at hand, the topic was open for debate.

In the words of Nara Shikaku and the males of his clan, the meeting was very troublesome indeed.

Because there was no lead to those responsible for these attacks on the village, the council could not hold anyone accountable. To the dismay of the civilians, this meant that there was no possible way for them to get reimbursed for their losses except by claiming insurance from insurance companies or applying loans from banks. Normally, this was not a problem. However, due to the recent change in monetary policies by the Fire Daimyo's Court under the executive order of the Finance Minister in the capital, banks were now much more reluctant to give out loans to civilians who reside in 'risk areas'- places which are more likely to have high rates of 'accidental or intentional hazards' which may cause recurring financial losses.

Ironically however, a shinobi village is in hindsight, a much more 'safer area for investment' than most places out there due to the security guarantees and workskills unavailable to the layman public.

Such was another problem for Hiruzen to handle in the near future.

It was a miracle to know that he was still sane even after holding the Kage position for almost 42 years already.

While the financial parts of the situation were shared by the civilians, the shinobi side however were much more concerned about the security of the village in general. Even after heavy monitoring on the movement of animals in the village, it was still not enough to prevent most of the attacks. Lead by Inuzuka Clan Head Tsume with the assistance of the Aburame and the Hyuga Clan, they had attempted to search for the root of the problem by tracking and capturing several known 'suspect' animals - Shiro-chan included- in order to find the true mastermind behind these acts of 'terror'.

Their attempts however ended up in vain.

The cause of these failures was mostly due to the presence of the Crows who would come and assist these 'rogue' animals by rescuing them or covering up their tracks with such potent and complex Genjutsu which had left even a Genjutsu Mistress like Yuhi Kurenai, a Jounin personally taught by the Elders of the Kurama Clan from a young age, in shambles. It was no surprise that the Aburame tracking bugs were also useless in this regard. While the Byakugan is said to be able to see through all standard Genjutsus, it seemed that the Crows were indeed masters of their craft. The only person that had the ability to break those Genjutsus because of his Sharingan was Dog #001 from the ANBU. However, due to him being out of the village at that particular period of time, there was little that Konoha could do.

Throughout the months, it seemed that most of the attacks were random and without pattern. A merchant from the Civilian Council had accused the Uzumaki Child of being the culprit due to the first targets being his former orphanage. However, said notion was turned down by the Hokage as at that time, the boy had several instances of alibis which were confirmed by two members of the TI Department. With no confirmed leads and merely assumptions on the situation, the investigations were all for naught.

That was until the message was revealed.

Who was this _heir_? Why did he considered Konoha his enemy?

In unison they had all agreed that the _heir_ was Uchiha Itachi, first born son of Uchiha Fugaku former clan head as the compilation of evidence was just _**too**_ compelling to ignore. With the information at hand, the Shinobi Council had agreed to step up Uchiha Sasuke's training placing him under several senseis and the like in order to further prepare him for a likely attack from his estranged brother. The Civilian Council after hearing this became absolutely delighted with the idea as they themselves were very fond of the Last Uchiha, thinking him to be the _**true**_ hero of the Leaf. Hence, they too would support him in terms of finance and politics as well.

How ironic it was indeed.

To reward someone for something they cannot control and to punish others for the same thing.

And thus, as Konohagakure cheered for a 'hero' built on assumptions and fabrications, protecting him, loving him more than he deserved, only a few others know the truth.

Akiyama Oyashi, he knew that the heir was not Itachi Uchiha or that the attacks on his village were related to the extinct clan entirely.

It was Uzumaki Naruto.

The _heir_ to what exactly? On this matter, he had little to know idea. But he remembered that the attacks had only commenced after his previous encounter with the boy. This was not the only proof to his claim. Based on multiple rumors he heard around the city-like village, one of the main culprits responsible for a number of attacks including the attempted arson on his bakery was a white tabby cat, a cat he recognized to be the one the boy spoke to not long ago.

Did he deserved to get attacked? Did the village deserved to be punished?

Two both questions, the answer was yes.

At the time, he still held an irrational fear to approach the boy to ask for his forgiveness, but he tried his very best to help him in ways that he could through a young Hyuga Hinata.

Every time the little heiress came and visited his shop, he would always inquire about the well being of her blond crush, teasing her in the process as she played around with her fingers. Other than that, he would always encourage the girl to try and befriend the lad instead of watching him from the sidelines, knowing how lonely the boy truly was in truth. The man would also give Hinata a paper bag full of bakery goods every week to give to the boy to which she accepted, often leaving it beneath the same tree in the training ground where the boy usually trained at without him ever noticing her presence.

Six months after that and much push from Oyashi, the girl then confronted the boy after school, treating him to his favourite restaurant and becoming his first ever _**real**_ friend from that moment on.

All was well for the two.

Well, this was until her clan found out about her interactions with the orphaned Uzumaki.

He remembered her running into his shop on a rainy day wet and in tears, the weather mirroring her emotions at the time. Knowing that no other person would understand her predicament, the girl had sought for him for comfort and counsel. She had told him that her clan had discovered her friendship with the young Uzumaki through the Uchiha scion and that she was forced into bethohal contract with said Uchiha at his request.

To say that he was angry was an understatement; the man was downright furious. He was never fond of the Uchiha in the first place thinking them to be Kami's gift on humanity. Although rumours had spread that the child was much more powerful compared to last time due to the village giving in to his demands more, to use that status to force himself upon a girl who clearly had no affections for him- it seemed that the arrogance of his forefathers had caught up to him sooner than later.

A conspiracist in the making, Oyashi concluded that Itachi's crimes were not done to see the extent of his own potential, rather to get rid of the world of a raging evil that threatened the foundation of peace itself.

Oh how right he was indeed.

With the threat of the Caged Bird Seal on her head as well as a political feint from her clan to have Naruto banished from the village, the young heiress had no choice but to comply to their demands, even if they were unreasonable in every way.

It was the most painful decision of her entire life.

And thus a year had passed since that incident, the two rarely speaking about the boy when they met yet the air of conversation was always directed to him somehow. The girl became darker, more secluded, putting an emotionless mask around her face worthy of any Hyuga in the Main House. From this moment in time, she had vowed to grow stronger than any of her clansmen, putting herself through hell in learning the shinobi arts even more in order to be free of this wretched fate and to rescue her dear one whose light was slowly and painfully dwindling from the world.

Her skills had improved dramatically over the past year. At the time, her Taijutsu was on par with her cousin Neji knowing now that if she hesitated to hurt others then she would be at the receiving end of pain. The Hyuga heiress had discovered that she had two Nature Releases- a very strong affinity towards Water while a slightly less powerful affinity towards Lightning. Her instructors had concluded that in just a few years time, she would most likely surpass the Nidaime in his control on Suiton. She had also taken an interest in both Genjutsu and Fuinjutsu; the former taught to her by her only female friend at the time Yakumo Kurama at her family's estate while the latter was done through means of self-studying, her main purpose being the elimination of the Caged Bird Seal.

While she gained the attention of the Uchiha house who activated the Clan Restoration Act upon himself, never had she fallen for his advances to win her affections, the most she put up with was to hold hands with the bastard.

And the arrogance of the Uchiha knew not any bounds, flaunting his pride towards her beloved blond at every opportunity, taunting him and reminding him of his place- that Naruto will always be lower and dirt compared to him. Did he not have enough? He already had a well-toned appearance, wealth, prestige, power, women, influence… What more did he want?

And yet she couldn't do anything about it for now. Even with her sudden amass in ability, it was still not enough to forcefully removing the Hyuga Elders and her father from power. The clock was ticking, she had two years left before she was bound by marriage to the bastard of an Uchiha. To think that her clan thought their eyes to be the ultimate rival of the now scarce Sharingan, only for them to fall into the hands of the accursed Uchiha's heir because of their lust over prestige and power.

She too was privileged to use the Uchiha's influence; albeit for the sake of herself and her dear Naruto-kun. At this time and period, her previous philosophy on kindness had died with her old self now replaced with a girl who would gladly manipulate others and stab them in the back for her own gains. While her emotionless mask was more prominent when she was in her clan compound or was together with the Uchiha, she would often slip her 'kind and happy' persona in front of the public eye to indirectly gain information on others for the purpose of blackmail and the like of it.

Therefore, on the night of the 9th of October on the eve of Naruto-kun's birthday, she had stumbled upon a particular set of information on her beloved. It was an S-Ranked secret of course known only by Jounin and those who were present at the time. Like always, she would try to manipulate information out of others, this time by henging herself as a prostitute and extracting said information from a very drunk Jounin in a pub near the Hyuga compound.

It was out of sheer will she didn't just slit the throat of said Jounin with his own katana. Never had she felt rage as great as in that very moment.

To.. to know that he was hated for…

**THAT?????!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!**

**SOMETHING HE COULDN'T CONTROL???!!!**

**HOW WAS HE EVEN A DEMON IN THE FIRST PLACE????!!!!**

Although she was a novice at Fuinjutsu, she too understood the difference between a kunai and a scroll. To think that Naruto was the Nine-Tailed Fox was an absolutely disgusting falsehood made by the people of Konohagakure. The boy was no demon.

He was an angel.

She remembered running to Oyashi's home that very night, burning anger turning into hopeless despair as she cried into the man's arms for her own transgressions against the boy.

Memories of the day she stopped talking to him and was forced to end their friendship came to mind. The heart-wrenching look in his innocent blue eyes when he was forced to see her and Sasuke sitting together at the academy, the bastard taking every opportunity to show that _**she**_ chose him instead of Naruto, the pariah.

She knew that she had caused him pain far greater than anyone else. Ever since that day, she was forced to bare witness to see the once happy child slowly falling into the helms of despair. He hid it very actually. He was still kind and polite to others, upholding their beliefs on kindness even after she had forsaken him. All in all, it looked as if nothing changed for her beloved when he was at the academy, the status quo of his ostracization remaining still.

But sadly, that was not the case.

From that moment, she had already expected to be attacked by the animals under the boy's command. During their two month friendship, he had shared everything about him to her- his deepest secrets he told no one even the Hokage; his ability to use the Tongue of Beast and the three month revenge the animals did in his name at his reluctance. If there was a person who deserved to be hurt by all of this, it was her.

Yet, nothing seemed to happen to her. Nothing at all.

While he was trying his best to keep up with appearance, she could see the cracks in his well-made mask of kindness that no one seemed to notice. The boy started wearing long sleeved shirts to class, his face lacking the baby fat while he appeared thinner than usual. There were instances where he would be absent from classes for days, returning looking even weaker than before, the shine having long faded away from his once bright cerulean eyes. Yet he still smiled kindly, even if it wasn't real anymore.

The shock and hurt she felt… To know that the boy was hiding so much of his misery behind his smile.

The long sleeves, they weren't meant for dress up like others would think. They were to hide deep scars lined upon his arms.

The days he was absent, her beloved was admitted to the hospital for-

She hadn't the heart to say...

And if that wasn't enough, the worst of it all was not that she had caused him so much pain and abandoned him as a friend…

It was to know that she had hurt him and abandoned him when he had fallen in love with her.

A week after forcefully pushing the boy out of her life, she had stumbled upon a crumpled letter hidden in his desk while she was doing clean up duty alone after school. Curious of its contains with guilt ever present in her chest regarding the boy, she then read the letter…

And that was the day that Hyuga Hinata died, replaced by another more darker and vengeful one with a new goal in mind.

To get stronger than everyone else for Naruto and to stop anyone who stands in her way.

By any means necessary.

And on the night of the eve of the Kyuubi attack, she plotted together with the baker to rescue him from his despair, apologizing to him while telling him that she, Hyuga Hinata loved him and only him.

If only it was that simple.

For on the day of his birth, something happened. Something so vehemently **cruel** and **disgusting** that allowed Hinata to manifest a power not witnessed by the world for more than a thousand years.

…

"Akiyama-san?" asked a high-pitched voice, her lavender coloured eyes staring at him in curiosity of his sudden silence.

Snapping out from his thoughts, Oyashi gave a small smile towards the heiress as he managed to compose himself from his earlier blank out. This was the second time in a long time that that the Uzumaki child had entered his bakery. To see him alive and awake compared to the last time he saw him was rather pleasant actually.

Even if looking at him brought many bad memories to mind, he knew that the boy needed as much support as he could get. Braving himself as he watched the boy still refusing to look at him, he then went towards one of his bakery displays and took a treat that he knew he would enjoy.

A banana muffin.

"Here you are Naruto-san," he said gently, offering his hand to the boy who shakily raised his head only to look down again, taking the muffin from the man while mumbling a quiet thank you.

Hinata who was watching the exchange felt a small burst of contedness when her beloved accepted the muffin for the baker. She knew of the rough past her baker friend had with her dear one, but because he wanted to change his ways, she forgave him in the end.

Well, if she didn't, there would have already been a pile of bones and flesh lying on the floor already and a shop burned to the ground…

But, that was no longer the case actually.

"Akiyama-san, Akiyama-san! Where's my treaaaaaat…" the heiress begged in a cute and overly happy voice.

A slight shiver ran down the man's spine when his ears caught the heiress's sweet and innocent voice as a mischievous smirk appeared on her face. While she generally used her emotionless Hyuga mask when dealing with her clan, there were certain moments when she would turn a 180 degree on her personality by playing an adorable and innocent looking girl she used to be known as.

Anybody in their right mind would know that if the girl were to suddenly smile and talk nicely to you but she didn't like you at all, you should prepare yourself for a world of hurt.

Hyuga Hiashi could still feel the phantom pain sometimes, the last interaction he himself with his eldest daughter being less _pleasant_ in nature than usual.

Oyashi who got the message clearly went to the kitchens immediately in order to get the heiress her cinnamon buns while avoiding a catastrophic disaster from occurring to himself. At his reaction, the girl in question giggled liking to tease her friend as a form of payback for his previously teasing her back then.

**"You seem to be enjoying yourself a bit too much, Hinata-sama,"** a deep feminine voice said out of nowhere in an amused tone.

"Oh hush you, it's not that I would do anything to him anyways," Hinata replied, pouting at the voice for chastising her.

**"Suit yourself Hinata-sama, suit yourself…"** the voice droll on, fading into nothingness.

Turning her gaze to her favourite blond who was nibbling the banana muffin in small bites, Hinata had then approached him and removed the hood that was covering the boy's head, ruffling his wet hair affectionately in the process.

"Thank you for suggesting to go here Naruto-kun. I've almost forgot about the bakery hehe… It's been a long time since I've had cinnamon buns," the heiress said in a carefree tone, her lavender eyes observing the blond's facial expressions in anticipation.

Knowing that he made Hinata happy, Naruto offered her a small _**true**_ smile, one that rarely appeared on his face these days. This in turn made Hinata's heart flutter, a reddish hue present on her face in reminiscence that the old Hinata was still there somewhere. Even if the painful experiences would forever scar his life, he believed that with Hinata, one day he'll be alright.

One day.

"Here you go," Oyashi said after returning from the kitchen with two large paper bags. "The one on the left is yours Hinata-sama and the one of the right is Naruto-san's."

"Thank you very much Akiyama-san," the two children said together in respect, Naruto's being the more quiet one.

"How much altogether by the way?" asked the heiress.

"I believe it's on the house today," the man replied back.

"Akiyama-san, I-"

"It's fine Hinata-sama, really. Consider this a welcoming gift of some sort. It's been about a month now you haven't visited my shop. Where were you anyway?"

"We were on a trip outside of Konohagakure actually. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner Akiyama-san," the heiress apologized.

"Nonsense! It's understandable," the man said pausing in between as he watched the pattering rain from the outside. "You two can stay here in the shop 'till the rain stops. It's still drizzling heavy out there."

"It's okay Akiyama-san. Both of us are in a hurry actually..." Hinata replied as she retrieved the two bags on the counter along with her, giving Naruto his which he took graciously.

As they were about to exit the shop, the chime of the entrance's bell rang loudly, signaling that another customer was here. Oyashi's eyes had then immediately moved up to the door from the children as a cloaked man with a Dog mask entered the shop. The cloaked man who looked intimidating enough up close walked closely to the two children, the boy hiding himself behind the heiress while the girl looked straight at him with a calm and emotionless face.

"Yes Dog-san. What do you want?" she asked atonally, causing the ANBU agent to stiffened at the careless tone of the heiress.

If rumors were to spread about Dog being intimidated by a little girl, his reputation as the Commander of the ANBU Black Ops Division would be ruined indefinitely. However, with regards to the girl in question, even Morino Ibiki would rather face the Third Raikage in the heat of battle than to be stuck in a room with her all day.

"The Hokage wishes to see you two immediately. I am to be your escort," Dog said in a similar tone, each word said in a very careful manner.

The Hyuga heiress sighed in disappointment, a small frown had formed on her face. She was just about to bring Naruto-kun to meet Teuchi and Ayame at Ichiraku's knowing that the blond hasn't eaten there for over three months. The Sandaime had to ruin her afternoon Naruto-kun with one of his meetings. In her head, she was already planning out various methods to torture the man but she had to put it on hold; she didn't want her beloved to be upset with her after all.

"Alright, we'll go."

Touching the heiress's hand, the three then Shunshin-ed out of the bakery leaving the old baker to his thoughts as he moped the wet floor left by the three.

The slight look in the girl's eyes when she found out her plans with the boy were cancelled was enough for him to know…

The Hokage was in deep shit right now.


	2. 2 The Truth of Uzumaki Naruto

**Authors Notes:****Hallo Leute! EmetMehmet geht's hier!****Anywho forgive my German but first of all…****Thank you my dear readers for your continuous support of my work. It humbles me to know that I have caught a rather large audience who enjoy this story. Well to be honest, most of the ideas I get for my Naruhina fanfictions stems from the 'what-if' situations that play in my head sometimes.****The story Broken however is a concept I thought out regarding the possibility of there being a 'Yandere to generally everyone else except Naruto-kun'- type of Hinata vs a kind and quiet type of Naruto. I decided to write this because I've never seen this dynamic played out before in the Naruhina community and would like to contribute to the many out there who thrive on fanfictions.****Well my main motivation for writing is not the fact that I get constructive reviews and favourites from you readers- although these are well-liked by me anywho-, it's mostly because there are no available stories for me to read on the 'Naruhina' tag. I've literally finished all the ones I consider good. Hence in order to compensate for that emptiness in the community, I have no choice but to write.****I apologize for not replying to any of your reviews for the previous chapter due to technical difficulties (just lazy tbh for now) but I appreciate your constructive criticisms and recommendations. And I have two questions for you all anywho:****How can I make this more heart-wrenchingly sad for you guys?****Did the story make you cry?****The main aim I currently have right now for this story is that I want it to be as angsty and pitiful as possible. Yes there will be happy endings of course (I hate sad ones anyway) but let me know if you have anything in mind alrighty?****Okay enough rambling from me...****On with the chapter!****WARNING: THIS CHAPTER MAY CONTAIN SCENES RELATING TO SELF-HARM, SUICIDE AND MENTAL INSTABILITY. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

* * *

Chapter 1: The Truth of Uzumaki Naruto

**_He remembered waking up in pain._**

"Daddy! DADDY! Please…" begged the voice of a young child, desperation so very real in her tone.

**_He remembered seeing red, the unyielding stings piercing through his veins; ringing ears, unbearable aches in his head, so very excruciating they were._**

What was once bright orange was now a reddish hue in colour. Even in his position between the pedestal of life and death, he could still feel the softness of her muzzle nuzzling on his stomach as she howled a wailing cry of sadness and sorrow. With all the strength that remained in his corpus, he had then fought the heaviness of his right arm and placed his hand on the fluff of her beautiful fur, stroking her gently with every last drop of love he had for the world.

**_The stench of blood he remembered it well. A small bottle filled with strong potents, a short knife sharpened with hard stones, slashes on his arms with deepening wounds, a needle, a candle at the side with a spoon._**

"Daddy don't go please… please….." the child cried in loss and despair, tears dripping out of her large sky blue eyes as she watched the one she called 'father' succumb to his demise.

"Uzumaki Naruto! By order of the Hokage you are to open this door immediately or we will enter in by force," a commanding yet concerned feminine voice shouted, banging the door to his apartment with undisputable force, yet said door moved not an inch.

"Shit! God damn it, the kid sealed the place up! Mantis call in…." another voice said before the intensity of his tone mellowed into mere unclear muffles.

**_Happy days of bliss; they played in his mind, blissful thoughts they were like rivers of honey and wine. He allowed himself to indulge in the imageries and memories, flashes of smiles and laughs like melodies._**

"I'm sorry Akira-chan, I… *coughs out blackish blood* am.. not *coughs and twitches in pain* am not strong enough…" the boy said in hisses and silent whispers as he continued to pet his beloved fox.

"I don't care daddy… I DON'T CARE! I just want you to stay with me. Please daddy DON'T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE. **DON'T LEAVE ME!!!!**" the vixen shouted with all her might sounding like murderous yips to the untrained ear. In her little heart, she begged, begged in absolute humility and need to Kami-sama that He help her dear father.

**_Let it be known by those who possess ears to hear and those who possess eyes to see that Pain is but a test from Almighty Kami._**

He could feel her; the Shi no Tenshi, approaching him in hesitation yet blight, ready to take his soul to the Heavens above despite her very obvious plights. He knew he had a great destiny ahead in life, one spoken in legends and sung over fires in the coldest of winters. But his heart, oh his poor dear heart… his Will, diminished it had, reduced to burning ether.

(AN: Shi no Tenshi - a crude translation would be Death's Angel (Angel of Death) )

Fate was often cruel to the boy, revealing his desires in front of his eyes, only to remove them when he yearned it most like soft spoken lies. Many times Fate had done this, many times had he endured.

But even the most patient of men will fall, their destinies long ensured.

For once in his life, he wanted to be selfish; caring not for others but himself. Then again, with his heart, how can he but lie to himself? From cradle he knew, his spirit was different unlike any other, a bastard child he may be but at least he once **_had_** a mother.

The dear boy… The sweet innocent child née Uzumaki… His soul's passion was but kindness and good. Even as temptations spoke to him in lustful guises, not once had he faltered; for indeed he understood.

There within him, lied an evil well known- it's deeds malicious yet its intentions unknown. For what reason had he, an orphaned child to be; to contain such maleficence for all the world to see...

**_Yet, if one were to delve into the never ending ocean which was knowledge, clearly they can say with firm conviction that with trials and tribulations, surely there will be ease._**

The fox whose senses were brought to high alert at the banging of the door quickly carried her weak legs about towards the entrance, a burning hope blooming in her fuzzy chest knowing that the ANBU were more than able to save her daddy.

She tried to transform but her efforts were to no avail. She was just too exhausted after multiple failed attempts to close her daddy's wounds with a low level healing technique she learned from the Cats. The cuts, they were just too deep.

All she could do now was open the door.

But why did it seemed so far away?

There was not a single doubt in her mind that Akira loved her daddy. Ever since he rescued her from those human children three years ago, she had always seen him as the father figure she never had. Her encounter with the boy was a very memorable one indeed.

…

_It was an autumn day; a four month old fox was she having wandered far away from her home. Her mommy had told her to run away out of the forest after they were chased down by a few men who were hunting them down. With much reluctance, she obeyed knowing that her mommy had sacrificed herself to save her from those men._

_Having not eaten for two days, the little vixen was starving. Because of this she had then scouverged the streets of Konoha for food every she could, searching through trash bins and dumpsters in order to find a decent meal enough to sustain herself for the rest of the day._

_After hours and hours of searching, the little fox had successfully found a packet of fresh sausages in a large black plastic bag outside of a human's den. Happy with her find, the young vixen then ate three sticks of sausages hungrily while leaving the rest untouched. She had decided to save the remaining sausages for dinner that night._

_As she was about to return back to her temporary sanctuary for the time being- a pile of cardboard boxes behind a restaurant-, she was stopped by a group of preteens who cornered her in an alley; malicious looks had they in their eyes and visages._

_Trying her best to escape, she then tried to run past them only to fail miserably as she was caught by the tail. The bullies then started to kick her, one of them cruel enough to step on her stomach. She remembered the pain as she yelped for mercy and help but deep down she knew she was going to die right there alone near a dump._

_And when hope seemed bleak and lost to the young vixen, the three boys were suddenly knocked down by a mysterious force causing them to fall unconscious on the cold hard ground. Even though she was in pain, she had stood on all fours trying to scurry away from the scene. Alast with wobbly legs and a groggy state of mind, she too fell on the ground having fainted due to blood loss, her last memory being of sun-kissed yellow._

_Waking up on soft cotton bedsheets, the scent of lavender and vanilla was strong in the air having penetrated her senses. She was surprised to see that she was in a dark room and was covered in bandages and stitches. Looking outside the window of the room, she then directed her gaze up to the horizon watching the moon in all its glory surrounded by stars of all kinds, the presence of dark skies indicating that it was already night time. Expecting there to be pain as she moved her body, she was brought to surprise once more as the sting of her wounds could barely be felt._

_Then the realization that she was in a human's den came to mind causing her to internally panic at her situation. Her mother had always said that humans were evil and liked to hunt and kill foxes for their own sick pleasure._

_As she was about to plan her means of escape, the door to the room had burst open abruptly causing the young kit who was still on the bed to remain frozen in shock. Not knowing what to do, she then sat herself in a fetal position, covering her face with her paws and ears out of fear of the human who entered the room._

...

**"Don't be scared little one, I'm not gonna hurt you," said the human in a voice of gentleness and peace.**

**"But you're a human," the young kit said in a meek and anxious tone, her words muffled due to her covering her mouth, "you're gonna hurt me and kill me 'cause you're always evil."**

**There was an immediate pause after the young vixen had uttered those words. Sighing in slight amusement, the human then walked towards the bed and bent down to the level of the cowering fox, his hand carefully stroking the back of the young vixen.**

**"I make a promise to you little one that I, Uzumaki Naruto will not harm even a pluck's worth of hair from your orange fur. Such is my oath as a Speaker of Beasts."**

...

She remembered herself getting awestruck with amazement at the young blond boy in her presence at the time. For him to understand her words, the knowledge itself was mind-boggling to say the least. Even amongst animals, it was almost impossible to understand each other if said animals came from another species. This was due to the huge language barrier that separated animals from comprehending one another- language systems and means of communications between species being far from similar.

At the mention that he was a 'Speaker of Beasts', a nagging feeling had appeared in her mind ordering her to address and treat him with the utmost admiration and respect she could muster. The feeling was odd yet was so very difficult to resist. Knowing better than to disobey these impulsive thoughts instinctively, she had then addressed his name with the suffix '-sama' and bowed to him as graceful as a baby fox could- in equivalence to his presumed cultural standing based on such practices among animals.

She remembered being asked about her name, a question that brought her to faltering tears. She… she didn't have a name at that time. Her mommy was supposed to give her one but…

She couldn't.

And she never will.

Due to the high casualty rates of newborn kits during their first years and general taboo, it became custom for foxes especially ones tied to Summoning Clans or were descendants of said Clans to give permanent names to their young only after they had survived their first winter or were given the blessings of the Leader of the Den. Hence once a fox is born, instead of being called by individual names at first, they are recognized by the members of their skulk by their scent and addressed with the temporary title 'Son/Daughter of so and so'. To avoid ambiguity between siblings born of the same litter, prominent features of each sibling, whether physical or attributable character-wise is considered with the original title when these forms of mention are used par exemple 'White Spots, Daughter of so and so'. It was often that younglings embrace their temporary titles as their official names, however, this did not mean that the trend was usually followed.

Akira was one of these few odd foxes.

Her mother had given her the title, 'Fiery Orange, Daughter of Shizuka' and she disliked it greatly. The first part of her title 'Fiery' in this context was given to her because her birthday fell upon what was said to be the hottest day of the year and the last part 'Orange' was due to her fur colour. Unlike most foxes in her community who had beautiful dark red fur, hers was a bright orange in colour, making her a target of constant bullying by the other kits. This in turn lead to her being somewhat of an outcast among the fox younglings to the extent that she did not have any friends at all among her age group.

But her mommy loved her orange fur. It reminded her of her father she used to say.

After she told Naruto the reason why she didn't have a name, she remembered him giving her a small yet kind smile right after her story as he petted her head with gracious affection. Other than her own mother, never had the kit felt as much care and concern for her well-being from anyone else than from her savior the young Uzumaki. She… she connected to him somehow. Although his eyes were the most beautiful pairs she had ever seen but, behind those charming blue wonders, she knew...

In them were loneliness and despair.

He understood her pain.

…

**"So your temporary name is 'Fiery Orange, Daughter of Shizuka' or Orange for short?" the boy asked in polite curiosity.**

**"Yes, yes it is Naruto-sama" the young vixen replied truthfully. Somehow when the young Prince said her title, it did not annoy her in the slightest.**

**"Well, even if you don't like it. I kinda do."**

**Her eyes widened in surprise at the human's confession. "Why is that Naruto-sama? Why do you like my old name?" the young vixen asked- no, practically demanded to know the reason.**

**She hated her coat colour… She hated her fur with such a passion that she would not clean or take care of it unless her mother scolded her to do so. A fox's pride was their fur but she held nothing more than disgust towards hers.**

**"Because I believe your mommy was right. Your orange fur is beautiful."**

…

She remembered her heart skipping a beat after Naruto said that. No one else except her mother had complimented her on the colour of her coat. Even the elders in her community were critical of her because of it. They would often say that her fur colour was too 'revealing' and 'bright' making her less practical of a hunter fox than the other kits. Although their comments were done in subtle ways, it was still obvious that they didn't like her.

Yet, for the Prince of Beasts to consider her fur beautiful…

…

**"And I've got the perfect name for you little one!" Naruto said rather excitedly to the young vixen who was still shocked at the compliment.**

**"Akira.. It means Light Coming From The Sun or simply Sunlight. 'Cause well, your fur it reminds me of the sun in the evening you know? Sandaime-sama would often say that my blond hair is like the bright summer sun in the afternoon and well since you're going to be my pet companion, I wanted to give you a name that fits both of us and- Hehehe I'm rambling again sorry *scratches back of head with eyes closed* but anyways ooof-"**

**A ball of orange had rocketed into the young Uzumaki's chest causing the poor boy to fall on his back as he felt a warm wetness on his blue t-shirt. The young vixen was crying. She's wanted. She's really wanted.**

**She doesn't have to be alone anymore.**

**...**

As time went on, winter's snow having already melted welcoming spring's bloom, Akira had advertently realized that if it weren't for the fact that she was a fox, she would have already fallen in love with the blond. To her, he was the epitome of beauty- spiritually and physically. Beautiful; such a peculiar adjective to describe a young boy, yet it was truth undeniable.

Curious, curious…

His face, the image of his visage; it was much too delicate and fragile to belong to a boy, carrying such feminine traits that would ignite the flames of envy in the hearts of women who gazed upon it with earnest. Oval-shaped was his face, his cheekbones high and conspicuous, while his chin; narrow it was- yet sharp it was not. His cheeks, while greatly articulated by the three whisker marks on each side, were free of blemishes and dark spots. Underneath both his eyes were dimples, adding further the presumption of innocence towards the boy's being. The child had an adorable button like nose and to top in all his lips, a gloss of matte pink in colour were thin and small. His eyebrows while thin from afar appeared to be drawn with soft charcoal from up close while his eyelashes were pointed and long. Yet the most prominent of his features was of course his cerulean blue eyes, a blue so rare in nature that one can only find it upon secluded freshwater lakes that reflect the clear summer skies on its surfaces in the late mornings or early afternoons.

The young Uzumaki was considered rather short when compared to the other boys in his age group. However, while their bodies were built for strength and withstanding strong forces, his however was shaped for flexibility and speed. The boy's figure was naturally slender yet petite, his shoulder blades were narrow yet firm while his muscles were well hidden yet tight.

All in all, if the boy were to lengthen the locks of his golden sun-kissed hair, remove his whisker marks and wore dresses of the finest of silks, not even the Geishas of the Daimyo's Court could rival his beauty.

What began as a relationship between Prince and Servant slowly transcended into that of Father and Daughter. The young Uzumaki took his role as Akira's caretaker very seriously making sure to balance his student and home life properly. Since Akira's lineage could be traced back to the Old Summoning Fox Clans that inhabited parts of Hi no Kuni, Naruto had also taught the vixen about the Shinobi Arts as well as how to harness and use chakra. The little vixen was rather ecstatic to live up to her ancestors legacies, having already mastered the Three Basic Academy Jutsus- her favourite being the Transformation Jutsu where she could **_actually_** transform into a six year old female version of Naruto complete with whisker marks albeit with long and wavy orange hair- and learning Fuinjutsu with the boy.

The two would often spend most of their time with each other when they were at home. They ate together, took baths together, did chores together and even slept on the same bed together- all of this while Akira kept her human form. Not many know of Akira's human form, her abilities kept secret at the boy's behest- she was only allowed to transform only when they were alone. The few who were well-aware of her powers were the ones he trusted with his life; his landlady, the few ANBU who guarded his apartment from intruders, the Hokage and Hinata-

...

Hyuga Hinata.

There was no one that Akira hated more than the girl.

She was a liar.

A trickster.

A pretender.

A traitor.

Scum of the worst kind.

It's because of her that D-Daddy...

He… he was going to leave her **alone**.

She **despised** Hyuga Hinata.

If she were given the opportunity, she and the others would've **destroyed** the arrogant heiress and made her pay for the atrocities she committed against him.

But her Daddy… He was just **too** merciful. His subjects wanted retribution but he denied their bloodlust outright saying that he deserved to be abhorred and ignored because he was a cursed bastard of a child- a blasphemous statement that was vehemently rejected by the Prince's Court. It was a time of mourning for the animals; to discover their Prince's painful past, but the boy's righteous burden was not the primary reason that lead him down the path of sorrow and misery.

'Twas only because of her tearful begs did he not command the animals to abandon him and leave him to his solitude.

She… she did everything she could but it was not enough to save him from **himself**.

Her Daddy had changed.

No longer did he laugh and chuckle like he used to- his smiles were now plastic while his grins became faux. What was once the epitome of confidence and charisma was now a shattering timid mess, anxiety and shyness became his constant companions. But then, even with all that, not once did the young Uzumaki relent in his principles; to be steadfast in kindness and good character. However, it was obvious to those who knew him better that his acts were all just for show. So very clear was the truth; the child was a mere shell of his old self.

The insults and mistreatment, such that used to not faze him now affected him greatly- how could they not if he believed them to be true? His self-esteem, the faith he had in himself, the need to seek self-fulfilment; each of these things were on the verge of collapse held only by a string of unforgettable words and broken promises. Like a withering tree, the boy had stood his ground only to end up powerless to stop the decay from happening. His life was falling apart and he couldn't do anything about it.

And why of all people was Hyuga Hinata the cause of her Daddy's suffering?

It's because he **loves** her.

He **loves** her with all his heart.

Everything about her.

Her appearance, her character…

The softness of her voice when she talks, the way she plays with her fingers when she's nervous, the redness that appears on her milky white skin when she blushes out of embarrassment, the little smiles she gives when she's content…

Even with her flaws was the heiress the quintessence of beauty.

To her Daddy she was **perfect**.

Yet…

She **betrayed** him.

And to top it all off, she **believed** the Uchiha's words and picked the bastard over her Daddy leaving him to a forsakened fate.

One would expect the young Uzumaki to break into fits of rage and insanity at her actions, his resolve of following his beliefs torn apart.

But his spirit, it would not waver. No matter the injustice faced, he still held on.

Yet his grip over reality, it slowly loosened to inevitability.

And now while everything seemed clear as crystal to his eyes, he the boy had fallen into the embrace of macabre as decisions of certainties were made on his behalf.

It was better to succumb to death and get rid of his existence from the plane of the living knowing that he would bring the demon down with him.

His only wish was for his dear one's happiness even if it did maim him beyond repair… Even if his sacrifices were unknown and meaningless to her… Even if he knows that he will never receive her affections and care any longer...

In finality, the Uzumaki child who was lying on a bloody carpet in his living room was currently staring at the white ceiling above his head, the stinging pain of the poisonous agent consuming his body whole. His only regret at the moment was that he would be leaving his precious daughter alone in this world to fend for herself.

He… he never wanted her to see him in such a pathetic and disgusting state but due to his own negligence, he had forgotten to send her off to the fox dens and seal of the small sized window entrance that she often used to enter the apartment beforehand. How could've he been so careless over such a crucial matter? He had been planning this moment for months now keeping track of the ANBU Patrol that watched his apartment constantly, studying high level fortifying and chakra containment Fuuinjutsu with the help of Kage Bunshins and books he 'borrowed' from the Forbidden Section of the Hokage's Library, sneaking into the TI department to steal a bottle of extremely potent snake venom from Mitarashi Anko's office, putting on a mask of normality where he would act like his **old** self in front of others, even if he was hurting inside just to avoid suspicion from those observing him...

The plan was perfect. Foolproof. No loose ends.

The multiple protection seals that he placed around his apartment were set to unlock itself three days from now in which they would have found his corpse rotting on the floor, the scent of his body extremely unpleasant due to the nature of the poison he drank. Then, not including his animal friends, only a few people would have mourned for his lost; most probably Sandaime-sama, the Ichiraku's and his landlady for sure. His dear daughter Akira-chan would have been very devastated with his demise of course, but he had already thought out a contingency plan in order for her to integrate with the other animals with ease. The boy had been separating himself from the young vixen lately, shutting himself out from her company while sending her out to live with the forest foxes and train with the Neko-nins for weeks even. Deliberately, the boy had slowly removed his presence from her life in an attempt to severe the sacred bond they had with each other to the point of no return.

Akira… his dearest daughter deserved better than him.

Yet she never gave up on him and continued to love him even with his flaws.

He knew he was a hypocrite in this sense, but in his perspective, his actions were for the best after all.

But why now did he feel regret?

At this very moment a conflict of interest had erupted in his thoughts, the clash between the two sides of his being becoming rather rampant to his apparent self. He had already accepted the coming of his inevitable demise yet a part of him was screaming at him for his selfishness, the memories of a whiskered orange haired little girl playing in his mind in subsequent order like that of clockwork.

And as those recollections continued to faze through his scape of thought, an understanding had been brought to the perspective of the young boy, touching him in ways that could only be felt by the soul. Even if the desire of living was no longer present in himself, he was still very much needed by his daughter and his other animal friends. Abandoning them was absolutely irresponsible on his part.

But then sadly, it was a pity to say that the truth still remained and that not much could change it; if he did survive the ordeal at hand however, his life would be worth half of what it was. Indeed, his heart craved for which is yearned by the spirit, unquenchable it is sung in lamentations of the priests of old.

Such yearning proved that he was no saint. The desire; it was so pure and untainted yet very selfish and human. To the pious believer, it brought forth the idea that beauty existed in the imperfection of creation.

He could not understand the reason why but no matter how much he tried to forget, no matter how much he attempted to move on, he could not for the love of Kami hate Hyuga Hinata- sweet like nectar and honey be her name. His soul would not allow it.

Like many of the doctrines and mannerisms he followed, his outlook on life had stemmed from reading and studying books originating from Wind Country and the nations that lie west of it after reading such books from as early as three years old. Such an affliction, the one he was currently facing reminded him of a story originating from the poems of Emin ibn Lūth, a great poet of the Court of Roses* who lived a life of simplicity and happiness to the ripe age of 102. The poem itself told the tale of a boy so consumed by the feeling of love for his childhood friend that it lead him to the embrace of the follies of insanity as he died in loneliness and piety only for his heart to remain loyal in the end.

(AN: Court of Roses - a reference to the old Wind Caliphate in my other story To Guide A Lost Boy)

A tale of a one-sided affection, unrequited and unreturned it was. A story of a young boy whose eyes saw the world around him in his loved one's regard, whose ears listened to spoken words in reminiscence to her, whose actions became dictated by her memory, whose heart became so consumed by her being that he took not any pleasure in the joys of life rather that of his coming demise, placing himself to the service of Kami as he succumbed to his Fate 'till the very last of his breath…

How ironic it was to know that such a work of fiction was entirely possible in reality especially with regards to his own life.

Yet, unlike the boy in the story, Naruto was not as strong-willed to continue on. How could he live but a life of misery and sorrow? He, the boy, had already lived such a life, but deep inside he had always remained firm in belief that he would one day be rewarded in the end. And as for his struggles, he only wished for one thing in particular.

To fill the void that was oh so present in his heart.

As far as he could remember, the boy had always felt an emptiness in himself that he could not rationally explain. He had sought for many methods to fill this emptiness ultimately deciding to walk the path of kindness and praised character in the end. However, even with the path taken, the feeling was ever lingering to the point he himself was lost to its unknown meaning.

That was until the day **she** opened herself up to him.

The day his heart felt a sensation incomparable to any other.

The day he felt…

Complete.

Never had he experienced such happiness before. What started out as a mere friendship between the two blossomed to what he recognized as **love** on his part. Yet, unlike that of an unhealthy and forceful obsession, the boy's feelings were pure and honest, innocent in every way they were.

And on a fateful October morning after consulting Akira-chan about his plans the whole night before, he had decided to pour out his feelings for her in a letter as well as to give her a gift he requested Kimiko-san to buy for him using his own savings the previous week.

It was a silver necklace in the shape of a crescent moon he got for her, while given to him by Kimiko-san as a present for his upcoming birthday gift was its counterpart- a small pendant of the sun also made out of silver. He had intended on purchasing the necklace personally after seeing it on display once while passing through the Grand Marketplace a while back but because of the general animosity the local merchants had for him, he had no choice but to delegate the task to his landlady who was ever happy to help him.

The gifts were just perfect.

It represented the both of them as persons really well; Naruto as the great Sol above, whose light brought life to those around him and Hinata as Lady Luna, the physical representation of calming beauty and serenity was she.

They were similar yet so different from each other at the same time.True to the representation mentioned, to compare the both of them was to say that day was similar to night and vice versa. She was an heiress of a noble family while he was a nameless orphan with no grandeur titles nor monetary inheritance whatsoever. He was a bright and confident child while she was a shy and reclusive one, preferring to stay at the sidelines rather than face the others out in the open. She was admired by those around her and respected by the citizens of the village while he was hated in the masses, having no choice but to grow up before experiencing a decent childhood like the other children in the village...

He was this and she was that.

Yet, even with all of that, what brought them together in the first place was not the fact that they were both different from each other, but it was because they both held the same belief.

Kindness was a praised virtue and the dark and cruel shinobi world truly needed it in order to save itself from its own destruction.

And thus, with the letter written and the gift wrapped, the boy who wore his heart on his sleeve was ready to admit his feelings to the girl he loved. Even with his limited experiences regarding anything romantic, he had already structured his plan to woo the young heiress- taking her for a meal immediately after class and later bringing her to 'their' secret spot where he would eventually hand in the letter and his precious gift to her. He remembered the nervousness he felt on that morning when he was on the way to school and the panic that came with it when he realized what he was about to do- he would have gladly abandoned his plan but for what it was worth, he had to be brave no matter what. It was a life changing moment for the boy and he knew it to be so. Hence, with a short prayer to Kami the boy then made his way to his classroom, hoping to sit at his usual spot next to his closest friend.

But, she wasn't there. She did not attend class that day.

And that was when everything spiralled to disaster.

A secret withheld had been exposed. A threat once idle had become real. A trust that was given had been breached.

A heart once whole had been broken.

She… she had pushed him away.

She had picked the Uchiha scion over him.

She..

She...

She…

…

…

…

He cried. The boy who was the strongest amongst them all, was crying. The warm and silent tears that escaped his once lively cerulean orbs they fell not out of the pain felt by the body, rather out of the piercing pains of the heart.

How could she do this to him?

How could she just throw him away?

Did their friendship not mean anything to her?

Did **he** not mean anything to her?

Was it because of his burden?

Was it because no matter how kind-hearted he was, no matter how much good deeds he did, no matter how faithful he was, no matter how hard he tried, he was just that; nothing.

Nothing compared to the noble and powerful Uchiha Sasuke.

Nothing compared to the glorious Prince of Konoha.

Nothing compared to the future Savior of the Village...

But was he not a savior too?

Was he not a hero as well?

He kept the demon at bay. His very existence was solely for the sake of containing it from escaping and destroying Konoha to the ground.

But why was he hated for it?

Why did he have to become everyone else's scapegoat to vent their frustrations at for something he did not do?

Why was he not appreciated like the Uchiha?

Why was he not cared for?

Why was he not **loved**?

...

"Open open open **OPEN OPEN OPEN! FOR THE LOVE OF KAMI PLEASE OPEN.** I… please I no- **WHY CAN'T YOU OPEN DAMN IT!!!**" shouted a hysterical yip of a vixen in the Fox Tongue who was struggling to open the door handle with her tail.

Yet, her efforts; to no avail they were unfortunately.

The seals, they made it impossible for the doors to open from the inside out. Any attempts to break the door would be futile; it would not budge nor dent except with High A-Rank Offensive Jutsus, courtesy of mastering 68 out of 141 ancient defensive seals originating from Taki no Kuni. The only thing that could actually cause the door to open other than destroying a quarter of the neighbourhood was for a Fuuinjutsu master to crack and override the seals. Even with that however, it would probably take hours due to the complexity of the failsafes he placed on those seals and the different language script used to write them. Altogether, this possibility was very unlikely indeed for any Leaf-nin - even for Sannin no Jiraiya.

Disregarding self-pride and the like, it was a fact that out of all the Seal Users currently in Konohagakure, the young Uzumaki was undeniably the best. Fuuinjutsu, no matter the form or pattern was something very easy for the boy to understand, the art seeming so naturally **right** to him. He attributed this to his Uzumaki heritage recognizing his ancestors of being the ultimate Seal Masters of the Old World. He kept this skill hidden of course not wanting to draw an even **bigger** target on himself for the general populace to aim.

After being told to never use it in front of others until he became a Genin, the boy had been taught the Shadow Clone Jutsu by Sandaime-sama at age 9 after complaining to him about his failure to perform the normal Clone Jutsu in class even after trying multiple times. With the Jutsu at hand, the boy had ventured himself into many branches of shinobi and non-shinobi knowledge through the books in the Hokage's Library- the only library where he felt comfortable to visit every now and then. He may not be a Nara but it was safe to say that with regards to intelligence, the child was just a few steps behind Shikamaru in this department.

It was at the tender age of 10 in the summer of the month of June did he discovered the compelling Art of Seals when he fell on his back accidentally made contact with the door of the Forbidden Section after Akira-chan gave him a surprise pounce as part of her training regiment set by the Cats. While the door looked like any other wooden door, it was not per say a **normal** one. It was made by the Shodaime Hokage who by the special power of his Mokuton, had 'enchanted' it in a way that it became partially sentient, acting as a guard and barrier to the Forbidden Section from prying eyes and greedy hands. It was said that whoever attempted to open the door without the permission of the current Hokage will be wrapped and strangled by tentacle-like tendrils that would sprout out from the door's surface. The tendrils were so strong that not even borderline S-rank Fire Jutsus could damage them. Naruto thought these stories were overly exaggerated the first time of course- at the same time avoiding contact with the door at all cost, but all this changed after witnessing the stories coming to life one day in the form of a newly-minted Chunin who entered the library with his other teammates as they waited for their sensei to complete their mission report with the Hokage.

The older teens were a mean bunch alright. They were very rude to Naruto and questioned his presence in the library knowing him to be the pariah of the village- something they had no authority nor business in. He like always, ignored their taunts and misgivings allowing himself to his own devices as the teens wandered around the back part of the library where the door was located. Concerned, the boy then dropped his pen and paper and went immediately to them to warn them about the door. Scoffing his warns, one of them was stupid enough to ignore his claims. He would soon be in for a very traumatic experience.

It was very messy indeed.

Thankfully, nobody died.

However, unlike the idiotic Chunin who refused to hear him out, when Naruto was in contact with said door, there was no threatening root tendrils nor was there any sort of indication that it was about to kill him. He remembered that his heart literally stopped beating for a few seconds when that happened as he held his breath in shocking anticipation.

Yet, nothing happened.

Curious with the matters hidden away in the Forbidden Section, like a little mischievous child he had then opened the door and went inside. To his surprise, the room which was the size of the front library itself was filled with books and scrolls of all kinds stacked neatly on shelves and stored in glass cases all around the room. It was a peaceful haven for bibliophiles like the boy.

And thus started his journey in the Art of Fuuinjutsu.

All of this occurred behind the Sandaime-sama's back of course- what he was doing was treasonous in a sense. After using the library for 6 years of his life, he needed not any supervision while he was inside. He was also somewhat the library's semi-official librarian as he was given a small allowance to maintain its cleanliness and arrange its books by the Jiji-sama himself. Like a true ninja, the child took the opportunity presented to him with earnest. He may be kind at heart, but that didn't mean he wasn't sly.

Sly… Sly like a fox.

Like the **thing** stuck in his belly.

Yet, Akira-chan was a fox. And she…

She was **his**.

He… he couldn't no.. no.. he should've never…

"Somebody please open the door! Daddy he's-he's d-dying and I- just- *hyperventilates* I don't wanna… I don't wanna… **PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP!!!**" the young vixen continued shouting, her cracking voice straining as tears flowed like rivers down her snout as she placed her forehead down onto the floor in prostration.

Yet was he willing to go through with it?

"K-kami-sama.. please… p-please… I b-beg you…"

To live a half-life? Always in a state of pain?

"... help my dear Daddy he's *gulps slightly* he's hurt …"

His spirit in a constant state of distress?

Emptiness ever-lingering in his soul?

"... he doesn't deserve this Kami-sama. H-he doesn't…"

To watch the love of his life love another. For her to be happy with him. For her to have children with him. For him to be forgotten and erased from her life.

"... I love him Kami-sama… He's too precious to me. Save him Kami-sama I love him."

Love.

Such a beautiful thing, its concept so vague to the mind yet wholefully understood by the heart.

Maybe… Just maybe…

...

_"... what is love Naruto-kun?" asked a soft yet sweet-sounding voice out of the blue._

_"Hmm? What do you mean Hina-chan?" the boy asked back in a tone of slight wonderment._

_"Well, umm... What does love mean to you?"_

_The two were resting after eating lunch prepared by the heiress underneath a tree at Naruto's usual training ground having sparred with each other for nearly two hours non-stop. It was their semester break before the Autumn Session starts. Unlike children at civilian schools, those who study at shinobi schools do not get long breaks like Summer Holidays that starts from Springs end till the coming of Autumn's eve. Instead, they get one or two weeks off before a new semester commences. While the rest of the student body would rather laze around and procrastinate during these breaks, Hinata and Naruto however preferred to study and train with each other especially with knowledge and skills outside their syllabus in order to be more prepared for their careers as shinobi in the future._

_The sun-kissed boy who was wearing light blue training gear with a green coloured scarf wrapped around his neck was struck with bewilderment at the heiress's question. Yes, he understood the concept of love. He loved Sandaime-sama, Kimiko-san, the Ichirakus, Akira-chan, his animal friends…_

_But why couldn't he answer it?_

_It was such a simple question yet his tongue remained tangled and tied up._

_And for some unknown reason, he knew that his understanding of love was **not** what she meant in her question._

_With a polite headshake, the boy who was sitting against the tree trunk in a cross-legged position kept silent indicating that he could not answer her question. This lead to giggles on the Hyuga's part who after befriending the blond for months had finally opened up from her secluded shell and was much more confident compared to how she was before. The sweetness of her giggles was a bit too much for Naruto as he blushed at the heiress's adorable display of joy. Other than a rise in confidence, there was also one thing that Hinata gained from her friendship with Naruto._

_Her love of teasing the sun-kissed blond._

_How ironic it was that she was the one who would stutter, blush and even faint in his presence before they became friends. In hindsight, it seemed that after exposing themselves with each other for quite some time, they had somehow inherited each other's quirks and habits thus strengthening the bond between them. While Hinata gained some of the boy's confidence and determination, Naruto however had found out that with regards to Hinata, he would become extremely flustered if the heiress acted 'cute-sy' and 'kawai-like' towards him or when she was in close proximity to him._

_Being an eleven year old boy, it was unlikely that he would understand the significance of his feelings at the time. To Hinata however, it was pretty clear what was happening to him._

_He was falling for her._

_And that made her really happy._

_This was also the main reason why she asked him the question. Well-aware of his background as an orphan, it was obvious to say that there would be no one to teach him about the meaning of these vital things in life. Even with a cold-hearted father who hadn't bothered himself much lately to show familial concern for her much less care about her and a little sister who was slowly following his footsteps, at least she once had a very close relationship with her beloved mother who taught her these things. Hence with that in mind, she had made it somewhat her duty to teach him the importance of these matters lest he fell victim to the cruel cycle of broken relationships and unrequited love._

_Not that he had to worry about such matters however; there was no one who deserved her love more than her cerulean-eyed Prince._

_Also, this gave her the opportunity to tease him even more._

_"Well, would you like me to tell you Na-ru-to-kun~?" said Hinata in a sing-song type of voice, emphasising each syllable of his name in an all-too innocent and cute tone causing the boy to turn even redder than before as she moved forward to his face 'till it was an inch apart tilting her head slightly with an adorable look on her face while she looked at him closely with her wide moon-like lavender eyes._

_"Hi-hi-hina-Hinata-ch-chan I-I-I-I… I umm *imaginary steam exiting the ears* w-well ..."_

_The sight of a red stuttering Naruto was all so entertaining to the Hyuga heiress that she could not help but laugh at the boy's reaction as she pulled herself away from the blond at the same time restraining herself from snuggling him to death. While a normal Naruto-kun was very cute, a shy and stuttering one was absolutely adorable. If there was something she appreciated about Naruto's ostracization by the villagers- not to say that she condone their actions at all in the first place, it was that the female population were too blinded by their hatred to truly **see** his physical appearance._

_Naruto-kun was pretty- scratch that, he was **beautiful**. Although in more traditional terms men would be called handsome, this rule however did not apply to the young Uzumaki. His face was too feminine while his body shape was rather petite and slender compared to the other boys in the village. Sometimes, the young heiress could not help but feel jealous over the boy's looks. Put a wig on him then you would have a Naruko instead of just Naruto._

_…_

_Well at least she had another idea to tease him with next time._

_As well as a Naruko to play princess and dress up with._

_She needed to buy him a blond wig first._

_Watching her loved one calm himself down, the heiress was struck with reminiscence at_

_how much Naruto had changed when they became friends. He was somehow… happier and more fulfilled than before. She was so very thankful to Akiyama-san who gave her the final push needed to approach the blond at first. Motivating her with cinnamon buns was pure genius on his part- it was her favourite food after all._

_"So what do you know about love Naruto-kun?" she asked this time in a firm yet soft spoken tone indicating that she was serious this time._

_"Well, I know that there are many kinds of love. There's familial love between families, platonic love between friends and colleagues, hedonistic love for material things, power and wealth, spiritual love for the Divine and the Unseen and romantic love between spouses or those in a relationship."_

_"Your assessment regarding the significance of the matter is as per usual a very astute and accurate one Naruto-kun," added the heiress in a haughty tone jokingly, playing her part as the 'noble and well-raised heiress' as she earned a small laugh from the boy who would call her that when she switches to her 'Hyuga mask' while interacting with others she wasn't comfortable with._

_"However, while the concept of love is something which can be put to words and ideas comprehended by our minds, it's actually not that simple to **truly** understand it. My late mother, Kami bless her kind soul, was always so cryptic about love. She would often recite stories and poems to me about it when I was a little girl back then. The epics that she liked to tell me were rather particularly indeed. They came from Kaze no Kuni and the mountainous lands that lies west of it…"_

_"Hey! I really like those kinds of poems too," interjected the boy excitedly, not knowing of his dear friend's interest in said branch of literature._

_"I know you do Naruto-kun," she said sweetly giving him a small smile._

_"Huh? You do?? How…"_

_"The book that you would often bring to the academy to read during lunch break before we became friends on the swing you like so much? The one in Rihiyyah* with its translation in the Common Tongue* written in blue ink at the side? I believe it's called **Rissalat** **il-'Aamar**, is it not?"_

_(AN: Rihiyyah - Arabic Word meaning 'relating to wind'; basically the main language spoken in Kaze no Kuni.)_

_(AN: Common Tongue - the semi-official language of the Five Great Elemental Nations. Real life equivalent would be Japanese. Said to be the language spoken by the Sage of Six Paths.)_

_(AN: Rissalat il-'Aamar - Meaning Letters of the Moon in Arabic.)_

_"How'd you- wait… The cover, it's written in Rihiyyah, YOU CAN READ THE NASTALIQ SCRIPT*?!" said the surprised boy rather loudly as a teasing smirk appeared on the young heiress's face._

_(AN: Nastaliq Script: A writing style used in Persian and Urdu)_

_"Not only can I read it Naruto-kun, if you noticed my pronunciation of the book title you'd know that I can also speak the language fluently too," answered the heiress playfully._

_"Huh but- how- what I-"_

_Naruto was down right speechless. Hyuga Hinata, his best and closest friend was able to speak the language of the Children of Wind Country fluently- something he had only achieved after years of painfully studying it. Yes, he could understand and speak it now but if it wasn't for the Shadow Clone Jutsu it would probably take him a much longer time to learn it._

_Due to the language's very complex grammatical rules, vowel-less writing system, pronunciations not found in the Common Tongue and multiple regional dialects which form a diaspora of vocabulary incomprehensible even to a native speaker, one could say that Riyahhi was undeniably an extremely difficult language to master._

_For Hinata to claim that she spoke it fluently, it was shocking to say the least._

_Yet true to her claims, the young Uzumaki believed her indefinitely knowing that the heiress would never lie over such a thing. It was also because of her accent when she pronounced the book title; it was very thick indeed and better than his anyway._

_"I apologize for not telling you earlier Naru-kun…" said Hinata meekly while resembling her old shy self slightly, her previous mischievous mood replaced immediately by a dreaded fear that she had infringed the sacred trust between them._

_"It-it's fine Hinata-chan you don't have to apologize. I'm just glad to find another non native speaker of the language in Konoha," said the boy sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head with his eyes closed, giving the heiress a small grin which made her heart skipped a beat when she saw it._

_"Umm… I'm a native speaker actually."_

_"Huh? Whaddya mean? I thought the Hyugas originated from Hi no Kuni?"_

_"Well, on my father's side yes his ancestral line is purely Hyuga for generations. But my mother, she's only half Hyuga. My grandfather was from Kaze no Kuni. He came here as a refugee during the First Shinobi War," explained the girl._

_"I see. No wonder you looked so different from the other Hyuugas…" said Naruto in silent realization of his best friend's lineage._

_"Yep hehe," replied Hinata as a sheepish smile of her own appeared on her face. "I got both my hair colour and my eye colour from my grandfather but the shade of his were much more intense, of course. His eyes were said to be as purple as amethyst while mine are more lavender-ish in colour. My mother did get the blue hair from him but her eyes were the normal Hyuga-like ones which she got from my grandmother so count me lucky to inherit my features from him. He was a great man."_

_"While it's very rare for the Hyuga to allow someone from outside the clan let alone a total foreigner to marry into the clan, my grandfather however was quite an exception to this rule…"_

_"Ano, who was he Hinata?" asked the boy in thoughtful curiosity._

_"We've learned about him at the academy Naru-kun. His name was Imran ibn Khalil also known as-"_

_"Th-the Blue Marionette?! The hero of the Triple Point War?!!"_

_"Yep," said Hinata as she nodded. "He was a master puppeteer and was one of the few known puppeteers throughout the Elemental Nations to be able to use Jutsu via his puppets and see through their eyes. His favourite combination was to use the Transformation Jutsu on his wooden creations to turn into exact copies of himself. He would then use them to fight enemies head on while keeping a safe distance away from the scene of the battle. This is how he got the name The Blue Marionette," Hinata said in text-book fashion, her familial pride over her grandfather echoing in her words._

_"Wow Hinata-chan… Not only are you the clan heiress of an Old and Noble Clan, you're also the granddaughter of a world renowned Shinobi too…" the boy said politely with a small smile on his face, happy that Hinata was much more confident to express herself compared to before._

_Yet, if one were to look closely enough, in the boy's cerulean eyes was another emotion entirely._

_Longing._

_"Oh no Hinata you idiot! You shouldn't have flaunted over your family in front of Naruto-kun like that," thought the heiress in her mind, scolding herself for being insensitive about her crush's situation._

_Although it seemed like he wasn't bothered, Hinata knew that most times when the topic of family arose in conversation, a silent sadness would hang above the young Uzumaki. While most children in the village became orphaned because both their parents had lost their lives due to shinobi related matters, at the very least these children had once experienced the love and care of a proper family before their parent's demise._

_Her dear Naru-kun on the other hand knew little to nothing about his parents except for his heritage as a descendant of the now extinct Uzumaki Clan. To add on to his misfortune, the boy had not inherited even the slightest bit of his ancestors features. In books of history it was recorded that the Uzumaki were a pale-skinned people with red hair and eyes like that of the Akatsuki*- such characteristics null from the boy. Even the Hokage was tight-lipped about the reality behind it all. Hence, all of this in turn had lead him to doubt the validity of his last name until the moment the boy got his hand on a scroll of sealing which had reaffirmed his faith once more to the truth of his ancestry._

_(AN: Akatsuki here refers to the direct translation of the word 'Red Dawn' of which the color of the Uzumaki's hair and eyes are likened to)_

_Then again, matters of her crush's lineage may actually explain the extreme mistreatment he experienced at the hands of the villagers._

_Like the handful that cared about Uzumaki Naruto- she may be the only one in her age group- the young heiress had always wondered about the cause of her crush's suffering. Among her presumptions was the fact that his relatives were traitors and had committed unforgivable crimes against the people of Konoha.The theory was backed up even further as Hinata investigated the relationship between the quiet whispers of him being a 'demon-spawn', the reluctance of trusted Branch members when asked about their thoughts on Naruto, the mysterious Law decreed by the Hokage about Naruto which was unknown to Hinata no matter how much she tried to seek its contents and his birthday on the 10th of October._

_Naruto's family was somehow involved with the Nine Tailed Fox Attack on Konoha eleven years ago._

_She didn't know if it was merely accusations but she had a reason to believe it…_

_During the Second Shinobi War Uzushiogakure of Uzu no Kuni- a country with a population of 110,000 located south-east of Hi no Kuni with landmass consisting of the main island where Uzushiogakure was founded upon, the small islands that surrounded it and the whole east coast of the mainland from the northern of Fire Country to its very south facing the Great Aoi Sea- was attacked from its North by an allied shinobi coalition which included Iwagakure, Kumogakure and Kirigakure with financial and military backing from their ruling Emperor (Land of Earth) and local Daimyos (Land of Water and Land of Lightning). Outnumbered 10 to 1, the people of Uzu fought valiantly and held their ground for days before seeking aid and fulfillment of a treaty from their one and only ally the Land of Fire and its shinobi village Konohagakure. They believed that together with Hi no Kuni, their forces combined were enough to drive the invaders out of their land._

_Yet they never came._

_Days turned into weeks as the brave shinobi and locally trained militia of the main island gave in everything they have to defend the land they and their ancestors called home. When Hinata read the detailed accounts of the tragedy from a book written by a credible historian who was a survivor of the attack which she found in the Main House's Library while researching more about Naruto's past, she felt extremely appalled at the brutalities committed by the coalition upon the people of Uzu. It was an act of genocide to the very last citizen._

_Their goal however was simply as so; to rid the Uzumaki completely off the face of the Earth._

_It was no exaggeration to say that compared to the other existing shinobi clans scattered across the Elemental Nations, the Uzumaki Clan was by far one of the strongest of its time. Blessed with longevity in both spiritual and physical form, they were said to be able to live up to a maximum of 200 years old and healed very fast from injuries of all kinds. Other than their prowess in Fuuinjutsu, the Uzumaki were also known for being master builders and had built a huge port city on the coast of their main island to host the civilian and merchant population. As for the shinobi population, their hidden village was built in a mountainous enclave that acted as a fortress-like layer of protection for the village._

_At the time, the Uzumaki were said to have numbered approximately 800 members and every one of them who were above the age of twelve were active shinobi. The 'Daimyo' of Uzu no Kuni -who for three hundred years had always been an Uzumaki- was also the Kage of Uzushiogakure and to the surprise of Hinata, the title given to the leader of the country was Naruto no Me* or Naruto for short. While the general concept of a shinobi village system was thought to be the brainchild of the Shodaime Hokage and Uchiha Madara at the end of the Warring Clans Period, said notion was actually false as Uzu no Kuni had already implemented such a system in their country 76 years prior. This fact was not well known due to the secretive nature of Uzu regarding their military force as well as the role of shinobi at the time which was more defensive rather than as mercenaries like now._

_(AN: Naruto no Me - Eye of the Maelstrom)_

_One may ask even after three hundred years of the establishment Uzu no Kuni, why was it that the Uzumaki remain small in number compared to other clans who thrived and existed until present day?_

_While the Uzumaki possessed multiple Kekkei Genkai, fast healing rates, longevity and a natural inclination towards Fuuinjutsu, to make up for the unfair advantages they had over other human beings, Nature had made it extremely difficult for them to bare children- it was also somewhat a blessing in disguise as well due to the condition making it extremely difficult for others to steal and modify their bloodlines. This applied mostly to clanswomen who on average could only give birth once every 45 years making it very normal for siblings to be years apart. With regards to men however, the average amount of children they could have with women outside of the clan was merely two and if they were lucky enough, three. Even though polygamy was allowed and even encouraged in the clan, this approach was not often taken by the men. The Uzumaki were an inherently loyal people by nature keeping their promises and oaths to heart._

_A month and a half had passed after the start of the invasion and the people of Uzu were almost at their wits end. Their forces had been decimated to half of what they originally were by the coalition. However, they had managed to inflict heavy damage on their enemies who lost eighty percent of their manpower and most of their resources to the defenders._

_It was the 9th of October in the year 971, the final battle between the people Uzu and their aggressors. The coalition had laid siege upon the village for two weeks and was getting closer to breaking the Great Gate that separated the village and the outside world. 212 Uzumakis and around 2000 shinobi of various backgrounds remained inside while the women and children were transported to the lower chasms of the village where a portal- the only one of its kind- to the mainland was set up. When it was determined that all of them were safely evacuated, the remaining defenders were ready to take their last stand._

_Although the nature of the battle was not described in the book, it was recorded that there were no survivors from both sides at all. The intensity of said battle was said to be so great that the main island of Uzu no Kuni was still inaccessible to this present day due to massive whirlpools surrounding the island that would destroy any incoming vessel that approached it even with the use of high level chakra-based techniques._

_While the history of the Uzumaki was very astounding and interesting to say the least, Hinata had reason to believe them to be involved in the greatest catastrophe of Konoha's history. As she was snooping for more clues on her hypothesis, she had accidentally stumbled upon a piece of paper in her father's office hidden safely underneath a scroll on his bookshelf one day that she curiously picked up and read._

_The contents had shocked the young heiress to the core. It was an investigation report detailing the disappearance of Uzumaki Kushina, an ANBU-level Elite Jounin of Konohagakure who had gone missing from the village four months before the attack on the 10th of October. However, it wasn't Uzumaki Kushina's disappearance that prompted Hinata into such a state, it was the fact that the ANBU had labelled her a 'prime suspect' in the attack due to her extensive knowledge of Fuuinjutsu and the Uzumaki's history of summoning demon-like creatures for use in battles._

_The report had further stated that there was a high possibility that Uzumaki Kushina was highly-affiliated with rebel and seperatist groups in the eastern and south-eastern part of Hi no Kuni- which previously belonged to Whirlpool Country before its annexation after the Second Shinobi War- that intended to fight for independence from Fire Country and resurrect the legacy of the Twelve Principles of Arashi*._

_(AN: Twelve Principles of Arashi- also known as the Followers of the Twelve is a religious sect that stemmed out from the Teachings of The Sage of Six Paths. What differs them to other religious groups related to the Sage is that they revere the family of the Sage above others particularly the Uzumaki whom they consider the 'Patron Family of the Eastern Sea'. Similar to the Shiite Twelver Imams sect of the Islamic Faith)_

_And what was Naruto's connection to all of this? Why did he have those whisker marks on his face? Why was he considered a demon in the villager's eyes?_

_The answer was very gruesome indeed. It was because-_

_"Hinata-chan? Are… are you alright?" the sun-kissed blond asked with concern as he touched the heiress's shoulder gently jolting her awake from her thoughts._

_"Oh! I'm sorry Naru-kun. I was thinking about something else you see…" she said rather frantically as a deep blush and a sheepish smile appeared on her face_

_"What were ya thinking about? You made that face again ya know hehe," said Naruto teasingly while chuckling._

_Puffing her cheeks in mock anger, the young heiress was pouting at the blond for teasing her- she then turned away from him while folding her arms as she let out an audible 'hmph' to show her 'displeasure' at her crush. Well aware of Hinata's pouting, the boy then approached her to coax her out of it. Although Hinata-chan was usually the main instigator of the teasing matches between them, this did not hinder the blond from doing some 'payback' at her. Naruto's victory was often short-lived however as the lavender-eyed Hyuga would usually pout at him in the end to which he had no choice but to apologize and bring her out of it._

_But if he had to be honest with himself, the heiress's 'thinking face' was a rather funny sight to see. It was so very un-Hyuga-like._

_And it wasn't like he disliked losing to Hinata in the teasing matches between them anyway, quite the opposite really- cheering his best friend up always made him feel warm and fuzzy inside._

_"I'm sorry Hina-chan. Please forgive me…" said the boy in an apologetic tone while using the most dreaded Jutsu to ever exist in the art of negotiations and trickery- The Puppy-Eye no Jutsu._

_Turning her gaze back at Naruto was a mistake on the heiress's part as a glance at Naruto's pitiful face and beautiful cerulean eyes was enough for her to melt and relent her pouting episode. As she was about to give in there and then, a little voice inside of her was shouting at her to hold on for a moment, as a plan formed inside her head on how to gain from this situation._

_"Nu-uh Naruto-kun," said the heiress in a childish manner as she huffed even more. "I'm not going to forgive you."_

_"But.. but Hinata-chan! I'm sorry I really am. I didn't mean it, really! Please I'll do anything. Just please…" the boy said, his previous tone now replaced with panic and worry in his voice._

_Listening to the Naruto's innocent plea was all too heart-wrenching for Hinata that if he were to start crying right there, the heiress would never forgive herself until she knew he was alright. Even though he appeared to be careless and continued to smile when others hurt him verbally, the boy was actually a very sensitive soul and sought greatly for approval from his precious people even at the cost of his own happiness. The slightest sign of disapproval from her would mean a lot to the selfless boy. She knew she was being selfish at the moment, but unfortunately, this was the only way that Naruto will ever accept such a gesture from her without him shying away from it._

_It was best for the both of them._

_"Alright Naru-kun, I'll forgive you if you'll do one thing for me."_

_"What is it Hinata?!" the boy asked in slight desperation, not wanting his best friend to be cross at him any longer._

_"I want you to give me a hug."_

_…_

_…_

_..._

_Hi-hinata-chan w-wa-wants m-me to hu-hug her?_

_…_

_…_

_…_

_SHE WANTS ME TO HUG HER???!!!_

_At that moment the young heiress could see a rollercoaster of emotions playing on her crush's face as his skin turned a shed of red while he tried desperately to keep himself from fainting. Throughout 11 years of his life, no one other than Sandaime-sama, Kimiko-san and Akira-chan in her human form had given him a proper hug. Even though his animal friends do give him hugs, their contact still felt foreign to him due to the hugs not being human-like in nature._

_But for Hinata his first ever human friend and the kindest and most beautiful girl in the village to want a hug from him..._

_Thump thump…_

_Thump thump…_

_This feeling… this feeling in his heart…_

_Thump thump…_

_Thump thump…_

_Was this the same feeling that he had read countless of times before?_

_Was this the same feeling that brought men to peace and war? The same feeling that could change the tides of Fate? The same feeling that made both body and spirit complete?_

_Was this feeling what Hinata meant about **love**?_

_While he was stuck frozen in his thoughts, he then felt a warm sensation engulfing his body as the scent of cinnamon and vanilla penetrated his senses leaving him a state of serenity and bliss. It was only after a few seconds did the boy noticed the source of his delight._

_Hyuga Hinata was hugging him. The fair princess of the village was hugging the pariah of the village and she didn't care._

_**And it was then he knew…**_

_After what felt like hours passed between the two did the young heiress let go of her arms of the boy she came to secretly love all this while. Naruto was speechless, the moment forever etched in his mind as he tried his very best to hold on to that warm feeling in his chest as long as he could before it disappeared into oblivion._

_"Y-you were t-too s-slow and I-I was ra-rather_

_impatient. How's th-that for your f-first hug with a p-p-pretty girl l-like me, Na-Naru-kun?" said the girl as confidently as she could yet the stutters threw it all away sadly- they were too obvious in her voice as well as the shade of tomato red appearing on her face._

_Five minutes had passed and Naruto-kun was still quiet after the ordeal. While the situation was adorable to the passing onlooker, the silence, however, was just too much for Hinata. Despair and sadness, that was what she felt currently. Did Naruto not feel the same way? Was all the signs she read from him a huge misunderstanding? As these thoughts played in her mind over and over again, her eyes began to water at the prospect. Who was she kidding? She… she wasn't good for Naruto-kun. It was stupid for her to hope otherwise. Maybe Neji-nisan was right. No matter how much better she got she'll always be what her family says she is. A huge fail-_

_"I… I liked it… I really liked it Hinata-chan" a quiet voice just audible enough for the heiress to hear said._

_Raising her gaze up to face the blond, she was then greeted by a sight that healed and brought joy to the young heiress's broken heart. Such a sight was one that she would never forget till the last of her breath._

_It was his smile. His **true** smile. The one that resembled sun and brought light to the lives of those who were blessed enough to be his precious ones._

_And so with another bravado on the heiress's part she then gave him another hug- albeit shorter than previous as she giggled a cute laugh causing the boy to go slightly red again._

_"Oh yeah Naruto-kun! We got so distracted from the original topic that I forgot to explain to you what mother used to say about love," said the heiress as she let go of the boy- although reluctantly, once more._

_"It's okay Hinata you don't have to anymore," the blond replied firmly as he gave her a small smile._

_It's because I already know what it means Hinata-chan._

_..._

_"... I know what it means now Hinata-chan," said the boy in his heart as his life continued to slip away for each second that passed._

_That memory, it was a beautiful memory, one of his most precious in his opinion. It was the moment when he had truly surrendered himself to the young heiress willingly realising at last that she was the one his heart craved for most._

_"What do you mean you can't open the damn door???!!!" shouted a voice outside the apartment in anger._

_"Eagle-senpai, the seals, they are not standard Fire Country ones. The style and script of the seals comes from Taki no Kuni and are nearly impossible to crack by anyone in this village short of Sannin no Jiraiya!" replied the ANBU member in haste at his commander._

_"Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu!" shouted another ANBU member as red burning flames in the shape of a dragon exited his mask directed at the door._

_When the flames touched the door, one would expect the whole apartment to have caught on fire and burned to the ground yet as the flames receded to smoke, the door remained unscathed the B-Rank Jutsu causing no damage to its surface._

_"Eagle-senpai it's no use! Nothing we tried worked," said Mantis adamantly._

_Akira who was listening to the ANBU outside the door was crying in lost hope. Her daddy was going to die and there was nothing she could do to save him._

_"No… no.. pl-please.. **PLEASE OPEN UP!!!!!**" shouted the young vixen in shameless fashion as she continued to bang her head on the door repetitively in a pathetic attempt to open it up._

_Watching the young vixen in pain, it was too much for the boy to handle…_

_He… he had made his decision_

_"**WAAAAAAAA!!!!"** cried the fox as loudly as she could, her haunting screams echoing the apartment that belonged to the one she loved most._

_Fighting the gruesome pain that stung his body like a million needles, the boy then raised his right arm with all his might forming the Reconciliation Seal on his hand in order to make it all go away._

_Even if he was forgotten._

_Even if he was ignored._

_Even if he was hated._

_He had to go on, if not for **her** than for Akira-chan._

_But will he ever stop loving her?_

_The answer was no._

_And thus closing his eyes, he allowed himself one last memory of her to play in his mind. It was the hug again, the comfort of her arms and warmth of her body engulfing him into a loving embrace._

_Yet unlike the real memory, the boy had added a simple change to it that would have changed the very fabric of Fate if he had done so…_

_..._

_"Oh yeah Naruto-kun! We got so distracted from the original topic that I forgot to explain to you what mother used to say about love," said the heiress as she let go of the boy- although reluctantly, once more._

_"It's okay Hinata you don't have to anymore," the blond replied firmly as he gave her a small smile._

_"Why not?"_

_"It's because I love you."_

_**KAI.**_


	3. 3 To Taint A Pure Heart

**Author's notes**

**Hallo dear readers! I apologize for the late update as I have been very busy these past few months due to exams and such.**

**Let me address a few things I have thought about after reading your reviews on the story.**

**First and foremost, I would like to apologize if the 1st and 2nd chapter appeared to be too confusing for you all! As you all know, English isn't my native language and due to my passion for oriental works most notably Classical Arabic Literature, I am very much influenced by the styles and patterns of said branch of literature- it is well known for its multiple change in perspectives and flowery language not found in other languages. Hence because of this, I could not help but write in such a way but hopefully though this chapter was written much more direct for you all.**

**I won't be changing my writing style completely anytime soon as I believe it is very special and meaningful to me. However, I will try to tone down the confusion as much as I can :D**

**Anywho thanks for all the positive reviews and constructive criticisms sent! It makes me really happy as a writer to know that my work is appreciated by the masses.**

**Onwards with the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: To Taint A Pure Heart**

_Dog Tiger Bird_

Warm sweat was dripping down her face, her black training clothes that wrapped tightly around her petite frame was wet with perspiration and water as her focus was entirely on the matter at hand.

_Dog Dragon Horse_

Three hours. She had been training intensely for three straight hours without stopping and it was finally taking a toll on her. However so, the thought of a break at the moment was far from her mind.

_Dog Bird Rat_

For each breath taken was an irritating sensation in her chest that if was not often present, would cause her to faint out of fatigue. The same was true with regards to the merciless aches in her muscles and stinging cuts scattered around her body; their presence had evolved from seeming unbearable to being a mild nuisance.

_Horse Dog Horse_

How easy it was for her indeed- her circumstances and predicaments considered, to succumb herself to the state of apathy; lacking care and emotion at every instance and occurrence. Nevertheless, such inevitability was almost certain- the keyword here being almost.

_Ox Snake Dragon_

While the offer was in itself, very enticing, the prospect that came with it, however, was not. Why undergo through such trivial sufferings only to end up an empty shell? The thought of suggesting such a notion was without a doubt, ludicrous in her opinion.

_Boar Bird Rat_

Instead of surrendering oneself to oblivion, why not become something else entirely? She had always been the odd one out you see, isolated from everyone else for being different. Would it even matter if she changed and took another path; the hunted now becoming the hunter.

_Snake Tiger Dragon_

Names, attitudes, habits, history- these were the characters she collected in her mind, knowing them to be useful whatnot. Fallacies and lies uttered by the lips, trickery and falsehood done by the body. If only they knew what she was really doing, without a doubt they would learn to **_fear_** her very being.

_Rat Ox Boar_

Alas, their ignorance was bliss however misleading it may be. Well, it certainly made her job much more easier to do.

_Dog Dragon Dog_

Because when pain is her constant companion.

_Dragon Snake Dragon_

No one can hide from her revenge.

"Suiton: Revolving Vortex Jutsu!"

For a moment the world was at a standstill, the only indication of time passing by being the heavy breathing of the former heiress as exhaustion threatened to knock her out. There was a sudden shift in the air, the cool autumn wind that blew through the open field was now rotating violently in a circular motion a hundred feet away from the girl as a water-like tornado was beginning to form. What started out as a see through tornado had transformed into a devastating vortex a few seconds later that ravaged and tore apart the landscape and the trees around where it had spawned. The chaos, the sight of destruction was hauntingly beautiful indeed.

Such were the thoughts of the young girl as she landed softly on her back on the grassy ground of the training field out of extreme fatigue. She had done it. She had finally mastered one of the Nidaime's most deadly Water Jutsus, and it took her less than a month to do so.

"Very impressive Hinata-sama," said a voice coming from the back, awe and slight surprise present in his tone.

"It *pants* it seems that I have overdone myself once more Ko-san," replied the young Hyuga in a raspy voice while attempting to sit herself up. Nevertheless, it was safe to say that she failed in doing just that as she fell on her back once more.

Ko could not help but chuckle softly as he watched his mistress struggling to get up on her own which earned him the former heiress's 'famous' glare - not that it fazed him in the slightest. It was all so refreshing for him to see her this way outside the confinements of the Hyuga compound as well as the scrutiny she faced within those very walls- like she cared about those bastards' opinion on her anyways. Earning a reputation this young, he could not help but shake his head in wonderment at the idea. Who would have thought that the failure of the Hyuga Clan was actually an unsung prodigy in hiding?

Little did they know that they were actually creating a **monster** instead.

Fools, the lot of them.

"It would be best rather than laughing a fool's laugh to help your mistress who is need Ko-san," Hinata said in admonishment, her annoyance towards the former rather prevalent in her raspy speech.

"My apologies Hinata-sama," Ko replied as he bowed towards the former heiress, the mischievous smirk he had still stuck on his face. Reaching the spot where she was lying down, he then picked her up bridal style and sat her against one of the trees growing at the side of the field.

As soon as she was in a sedentary position, Hinata immediately rummaged through one of her pockets of her pants and took out a small wooden box, her hands still shaky after her previous ordeal. Opening the box with a click, she then took out its contents and swallowed it in haste. The effect was instant as her body felt much better than before, the exhaustion having disappeared at once.

Food pills, a miracle they were.

"Friday evenings are meant for rest and remembrance Hinata-sama yet I see you here skipping such frivolities over the need to work hard," said Ko while raising his eyebrows as he offered a thermos to the pre-teen which he kept in a sling bag he was carrying.

Rolling her eyes at her bodyguard's chide she then took the thermos from his right hand and drank the water greedily. "Then again, it strikes me as odd that one with a very high affinity towards Suiton equal or maybe greater than the Nidaime himself, is not able to summon a glass of water herself," he teased.

Ko then felt a shiver down his spine as soon as he said that, the temperature of his surroundings dropping at a rapid rate. He was well-aware of what he just did earlier on. Did he regret it however?

Maybe.

Looking towards the direction of the heiress, he was then greeted with a sight that brought the fear of Kami in him once more.

Hyuga Hinata was smiling.

What was so wrong about this one may ask?

Because the former heiress **never** smiled.

And if she did…

Well, for most it was to run away as far as possible in fear whilst screaming.

Thankfully Ko was not most people.

"C-Care to re-repeat that Ko-san? Ano… I-I wasn't paying attention…" Hinata stuttered in an adorable and sweet high-pitched voice, tilting her head slightly to the right in naive fashion as she continued to give him her cute smile, her face coated with pure innocence.

Yet he knew, she was **far** from being innocent.

And it frightened him. It really did.

"Th-there's n-nothing to repeat Hinata-s-sama," he said while stuttering as traces of cold sweat started to form on his forehead which was covered by a plain white cloth.

Satisfied with the answer Hinata then dropped the smile and returned to her neutral and slightly apathetic state allowing the man relief and calm, a serious expression now placed on her face. "As much as I do appreciate your company Ko-san but how did you know I was here in the first place?"

"Intuition and much concern milady," the older Hyuga replied with simplicity.

"Let me guess, it was my dearest little sister who told you, am I right?" Hinata said in an atonal voice as she sighed at Hanabi's inability to keep secrets, her displeasure of the younger girl visible to the caretaker.

"Well, the young heiress did give a few pointers on your location. However, it was your clone that disclosed the necessary information for me to embark on my journey to Training Ground 27 Hinata-sama."

"Traitor," thought the lavender-eyed girl to herself as she did an internal facepalm. She couldn't even trust her **own self** to do the job right.

"Cinnamon buns?" she asked as the older man gave an affirmative nod prompting another sigh from the girl. The clone had even gotten a good bribe too- not that she blamed her much for it anyways.

At the thought of those delightful delicacies, Hinata's stomach reacted and growled rather loudly to which she did not outwardly show emotion- although she was slightly embarrassed inside. Noticing the obvious hunger from the former heiress, Ko then took out a paper bag from his sling bag and handed it over to the girl who immediately grabbed it as if her life was at stake.

"It's not Akiyama's but I had to make due," added the man who sweatdropped watching Hinata eating five buns in one sitting, her table manners entirely forgotten throughout her indulgence.

Eleven buns later, the heiress was stuffed as she let out a small and polite burp for which she excused herself to the amusement of Ko who was waiting patiently at the side for her to finish. Once she was done, she then took a sip out of the thermos and stood up to perform a few breathing exercises to calm herself down. She knew the significance of Ko being here out of the blue- the matter had to be of importance for him to break protocol and see her when he was not tasked to do so. Taking a deep breath with her thoughts now collected, she had then addressed the obvious question she had in mind.

"Ko-san, what happened?" asked the former heiress in a slow and delicate manner.

Detecting concern and worry in the girl's voice, Ko had let out a heavy sigh when he was asked the question. Hinata… she… she sounded so fragile unlike how she usually was these days. The older Hyuga had been mentally preparing himself for hours now in order to deliver this information to his young mistress but he still had not the heart to speak it out. Remembering his own reaction after reading the message sent to him via owl this afternoon, the man was caught perplexed as the feeling of dread and distress crept into his heart. The image of the situation… It was just too much for his stomach to handle.

He had no choice but to take extras for lunch earlier on to avoid going hungry for the day.

Returning back to the matter at hand, if he, an experienced ex-ANBU operative had reacted as so, he could not help but think that his mistress would take it even worse than he did.

Hyuga Hinata, she didn't deserve this. No one did.

But he was left with no choice; he had to tell her, he just had to! It was his damn duty for Kami's sake.

And damned it he did.

"I... I had received an urgent message from our contact in the ANBU about four hours ago and well..." said Ko in heavy reluctance, his pale grey eyes refusing to look in the direction of the former heiress.

Hinata felt her heart skipped a beat at the mention of the ANBU's message as numbness and anxiety threatened to flood her senses. This could only mean one thing.

"Naru… Naruto-kun…" thought the girl in absolute guilt.

"K-Ko, wa-what happened?? What happened to Naru-kun Ko? Is he hurt?! Tell me please!" said a desperate Hinata in panic as cracks began to appear on the mask of her 'new' self, the broken little girl having resurfaced in present once more.

Ko just stood there silent, his eyes continuing to look at the ground away from Hinata as shame filled his chest over his past faults and failures. It was too painful for him to tell her. Hinata, the dear girl, she was the little sister he always wished he had when he was younger. His father had died in the Third Shinobi War before his mother and he managed to have another child when he was eight years old. After his early departure from the ANBU at age 19 having serving in its Scouting and Intelligence Unit for four years, he was tasked by the Hyuga Elders to act as the bodyguard of the back-then future heiress of the noble Clan.

It was a decision he would come to hold dear especially after his dark and grueling experience in the Black Ops branch of Konohagakure.

She used to be such a sweet and shy girl the little one… used to hide behind his robes too in the presence of people she was not pleasant with due to her being scared. Yes, he was well-informed regarding the Main's mutual dislike of her but that did not intimidate him one bit to perform his duty in protecting the former heiress. At the peak of the clan's ostracization of her, he was her comfort and he was her relief. She would often speak her heart out to him and cry in his arms when they knew no one was watching. This was the norm for many years to come. Well it **was** the norm for some time until she came back to the compound with the biggest and most sincere smile he had ever seen on her face one beautiful autumn evening.

It was the day she became friends with **him**.

Uzumaki Naruto, the scorn and scum of The Hidden Leaf Village.

Was he aware of what and who the boy was? Yes, he knew of it as well even if not entirely.

Did he despised him for it? For all the riches of the world would he not hate the boy who had placed light back into lavender eyes once more.

The sun-kissed blond had given to her what he himself could never dream of giving her; freedom.

Freedom from the pressure of being an heiress. Freedom from being looked down upon and dismissed for being weak and too kind for her own good. Freedom from the reality of the world into a fantasy of her own, one where she is able to control her Fate, where Destiny is but what is desired most.

To be accepted for flaws.

To be seen as strong and respected for her efforts.

To show that kindness was not just a strength but a virtue as well.

To love and be loved...

He had given her all of that. He, Uzumaki Naruto the so called _demon child_ had given to her all of that.

How could she expect him to tell her the truth?

"Damn it!" said the former heiress in absolute annoyance as she lost composure of herself and walked dominantly to the still standing man. "Tell me Ko! Don't you dare hide a fucking word from me you hear me??!! Not a **fucking word**. Now what the fuck happened to **Naruto-kun!!!!???**" she shouted with rage as she shook the older Hyuga violently with her Byakugan active, her eyes showing how pissed she was at the man who refused to say anything.

It was not often that Hinata used profanity in her daily speech even after her change in personality- instead she spoke with an eloquence and regality greater than before that appalled even the old farts in the Hyuga Council. It was only when she was really angry that her tongue cuts sharper than paper and her words hurt harder than steel.

For Ko, being on the receiving end of her temper was the least he could do for his young mistress- it was far better treatment than what she gave to some of those she had 'listed' in her mind. The change in principle, both in her attitude and actions was the result of the very complicated situation she had caught herself in for the past year. However, it was undeniable to admit that her unique position had made her who she was today- stronger and more powerful.

All for a boy whose soul was so very innocent and pure.

A boy who earlier today was an inch too close to Death's door.

Frustrated with his continuing silence, the former heiress than sent a mild yet painful Juuken palm strike to his upper abdomen which caused the older Hyuuga to falter slightly in his stance- the strike would have knocked down a lesser man but he was no ordinary ninja. He knew he couldn't stall this any longer.

"For fuck's sake Ko! You know how important he is to me. You know what I'm willing to do for him so **please just FUCKING TELL ME ALREADY!!**"

"He *wheezing out of breath* he's at the… the hospital. Cri.. critical condition I-" said the man in short breaths as he clutched his right hand onto his chest before he was interrupted promptly by a disturbance in the air.

Even without the use of the Byakugan, Ko could feel the aura of chakra and Killing Intent emitting from his young mistress as cracks started to form on the ground she stood. Her chakra reserves had increased from Genin Level to Low Jonin level this past year alone and considering her aptitude for chakra control as a Hyuga, she was already equivalent to an active ANBU in this regard. Hence, it was no surprise that the sheer intensity of her chakra was enough to break surfaces around her.

"Who did it Ko… Who was the one who hurt Naruto-kun?" asked the former heiress in a low voice that screamed danger to those around her.

"**WHO?!!**" she added as she stared at him with a murderous Byakugan-enhanced gaze that frightened the veteran ex-ANBU causing him to fall on his knees.

How dare they hurt her most precious person?

Had they not promised her not to harm him in any way?

Deep in her mind clouded with darkness and hate, she was already thinking of very gruesome ways to punish the ones that had crossed the one line that shouldn't be crossed.

It took every ounce of patience, every ounce of patience she had to maintain this mask of hers from the rise of dawn to the setting of twilight. The one thing that kept her sane all this while was for her to know that her beloved was safe and sound from the evils of this accursed village. She had endured their restrictions, she had kept firm under their threats. Even while plotting in the shadows, she was still honorable enough to keep her end of the bargain.

Now however was the time to plan bloody murder.

While she contemplated revenge against the unfortunate souls who dared to tempt her foul, her thoughts however were cut off by a clear reminder from her conscience. She had abused Ko verbally and physically. She had hurt one of her precious people.

And it scared her. It truly scared her.

"_What- what's happening to me?_" thought the heiress to herself as she felt disgusted and guilty for her inexcusable actions.

Just as she was about to beg for her pseudo-brother's forgiveness, her intentions were brought to an immediate halt as the man spoke further in hushed tones regarding her beloved's condition. Ripping out her mask completely from herself, she then approached the man closer and kneeled right next to him in order to hear him properly.

"Ko-nisan, who hurt Naruto-kun?" she asked in the shy and vulnerable tone of the old Hinata as she looked at him with fear and regret.

She wanted to know who was responsible but not at the expense of hurting her loved ones.

She needed to be calm and collected.

And yet not all of the things planned out were meant to be.

"Himself…" whispered the man inaudibly.

That one revelation, no matter how quiet he spoke, was enough to shake his mistress to the core as the last grasp of control she held over herself had shattered into unsalvageable pieces. Immediately, her expression turned to unyielding horror at the news, a frosty chill was treading through her, leaving her numb and empty inside. Her shaking knees, they were left weakened in the wake while her muscles lost their sensation as she tried to keep awake. But alas, she could not and she collapsed on her back once more, her gaze directed to the calm evening sky while her heart felt a pain, familiar it was… _Amor_.

Memories they came back to her.

His bright smile as they played together in fields of gold.

His beautiful face as they bathed with each other in warm sunlight.

His cheerful personality that could brighten up her day no matter how bad it was.

The politeness in his speech, the kindness of his heart.

Nowhere could she find a boy as pure as him.

_Their first hug…_

Those moments, they had flooded her mind, every feeling she felt now doubled in kind.

Suddenly with a renewed drive she got up in a panic state, and she ran and stumbled remembering what was at stake. Her breathing was uneven, her appearance a mess but what would it matter anyway if she wasn't the best?

So very close she was, almost out of the field but then she tripped and fell and damaged her heel. She tried to get up, she tried to renew her chase but all that was left null for indeed it was a waste.

Ko had caught up to her.

Even now she was useless…

...

The older man seeing the younger girl run had immediately got up knowing where she was going. He had to stop her at all cost no matter how reluctant he was in doing so.

He then ran behind her and went on the chase but she was fast thanks to her training so he continued on in haste. Concentrating chakra to his feet the man then increased his speed as he got closer to his mistress who was almost out of the field.

But then the unexpected happened; she tripped and fell on the ground. As soon as she was about to get up he then quickly halted her from standing by grabbing her into a hug.

"_Let me go Nii-san! Let me g-go…_" Hinata said, her voice cracked as she was struggling weakly to escape the arms of the older Hyuga.

In defiance, the man tightened his grip over the former heiress while whispering comforting words into her ears in a bid to calm her down. His right hand, it was wet with his imouto's tears as she let out a silent wail at the pain she felt. She was grieving, grieving over her lover's unfair suffering and Ko of all people understood her misery.

It was the same six years ago when Lady Hitomi passed away.

And so he allowed her to cry.

And cry she did.

...

To the west had the sun set down the horizon as the sky was a mix of dark blue, orange and yellow indicating the arrival of twilight and the rise of the moon. The wind had calmed from its tantrum before now blowing gentle breeze through the lands below.

Near a wooden post that read 'Training Ground 27' were two individuals sitting down; the older man laying his back against a tree while the younger girl slept quietly on his lap. He was currently stroking the girl's head soothingly as his fingers played with her silky blue hair, intertwining and twisting them in mild play. They have been here for an hour now and night time was most definite. Knowing that they needed to go back soon, the man then tried to stir the girl awake, only to be at the receiving end of cute begs and pouts, the latter not wanting to wake up from her much needed nap.

"Five more… five more minutes pwease," said girl whose eyes were still closed in a baby-ish voice as a frown appeared on her adorable face.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that Hinata-sama. It is already late and we need to head back to the compound lest we receive the err of your father," answered the man as he continued to stroke her head.

As she slowly opened her lavender eyes to the world, she was greeted with the darkness of her surroundings as well as the familiar face of her brother in all but blood and the warmth of his body on hers. It had been rather long since she relished in the comfort of her caretaker's arms, the most prominent of times being the death of her mother and the day she was forced to break her sacred bond with Naru-

Oh yes. Now she remembered...

_Naruto-kun…_

It was her fault. She knew it. The reason why Naruto was so close t-to di-dyi-

She… she hadn't the strength nor the desire to say.

She was oh so thankful to Kami, thankful to Him that he was still alive and would be recovering in a few days. However, she was well-aware of the damage done to his psych as well as his spirit. She truly understood. While she deviated to the path of darkness, her beloved was still-ever steadfast in good and kept it that way even when he was hurting beyond compare.

Just a few more days. They had to hold on for a few days more.

Their suffering, it will end. Soon.

And her vengeance, it too will commence. Soon.

Even as her chest felt wide and serene, the reality however was far from it. It was as the proverbial saying goes 'The calm before the storm'. She had no choice but to assemble the pawns earlier than intended and move them in accordance to the more recent agreement. This of course would require more sacrifices than prior.

Not that she cared anyway. The higher the possibility of her enemies dying the better, she thought.

"Ko-niisan, earlier on today, I'm… I'm sorry for hitting you and talking to you disrespectfully like that I- it's just… well-" said the former heiress in a regretful tone before she was interrupted by a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Imouto-chan, all is forgiven. Don't worry, alright?" answered the older Hyuga, a small smile appearing on his usually stoic face.

At the mention of Ko calling her 'Imouto-chan', Hinata could not help but feel a small burst of happiness in between her sorrows. It was very rare for him to call her that as he preferred to follow the protocol of Hyuga even if he disliked it greatly. Although the gesture may be insignificant to some, to her it carried an important meaning.

It reminded her not to let darkness and hate control her. Instead, she was to use them to strengthen her; the anchor of her limits being her loved ones.

After staying that way for a few minutes, with a small grunt, she then excused herself from Ko's contact and stood up from her initial position, her right foot still slightly sprained due to the fall. Taking a deep breath, the former heiress then gave herself an order- to place the 'mask' back on her face surrendering herself to its behest once more. She remained vulnerable for far too long for her liking and there was much planning to be done.

"It seems that the clone I left at the compound is still active. Based on my prior estimations, it would most probably last for another 22 hours before it disperses," Hinata said nonchalantly, her mannerisms returning to its 'originality' once more.

"Of course Hinata-sama. What are your orders in the meantime?" asked Ko in a serious tone.

"Inform Owl, Cat and Hunter to search for more evidence on Shimura's involvement in Project Castaway as well as to sniff out for more traitors in the ranks. Also, with regards to our allies in the capital, I believe 'Omicron' is in order, no?" answered Hinata as she turned away from Ko who was currently facing the former heiress.

"Certainly milady. Where will you be heading now?"

"I will be staying at the Kurama clan compound tonight. I have much to discuss with Lady Yakumo and it is best done at a moment's notice," she said as walked away from the man before body-flickering out of the area.

The older Hyuga who was still in the training field was reflecting on the day he had. One could not deny that it was indeed a whirlpool of emotions and the experience was both painful and healing at the same time. To be left in shambles; such was the state of Hyuga Ko who himself could not begin to comprehend the happenings and changes against his spirit and soul.

He let out a tired sigh as he looked at the sky above the clouds, it seemed that the crescent moon was his witness tonight. With as much stoicness as he could muster, the man then exited Training Ground 27 with an emotionless expression, his face not betraying his true feelings in the slightest.

There was one thing he got from the day however.

He finally understood why his ancestors were never fond of emotions in the first place.

…

The streets of the south-western district of Konohagakure were awfully quiet tonight. Sure, there were people about at the bars and restaurants that aligned the roads but compared to a normal Friday night, the lack of a crowd was somewhat surprising.

For Hyuga Hinata however, it was a blissful experience.

Well she wasn't exactly Hyuga Hinata now.

Dressed in a short skirt that reached the thighs and a white qipao with lotus designs on it that wrapped tightly on her body was a tall woman with long pale white hair and golden brown eyes, her hips moving rather provocatively as the men in the area watched with eyes full of lust at the woman in question, some even daring to catcall her out of it.

"Hey there Good Lookin'!"

"Where you goin' beautiful?"

"Wanna get a drink with us??"

_Yamasato Hanako _gave a slight smirk as she passed the half drunken men who could not keep their pants to themselves. Normally, one would expect a woman even so a kunoichi to feel disgusted over the fact that men see them as mere sexual objects made to please them. With regards to the disguised former heiress however, she felt pleased and even relished in those explicit compliments that usually angered women in general.

The reason? It proved that she had power over those men and she could do what she wished with them.

Who would've thought that the once shy and insecure Hyuga Hinata was a dominatrix in the making?

It's always the quiet ones.

However, her body and soul, they were meant for that one person and that one person **only**.

And that was the person she wanted to save at all cost.

So with a right turn down on 15th Street she made her way down a much more quieter road with rows of four-storey tall storage houses at its side. The road itself wasn't dark as there were electrical street lights available at each block. After making sure that no one was following her, she then went along the empty street in a relaxed yet regal manner as she contemplated the issues that needed to be discussed. At the end of the road, was a closed compound and a gate which was guarded by two uniformed men.

"Halt! You are entering the sovereign area of the Kurama Clan. State your name and business," shouted one of the guards who looked at her with scrutiny and caution.

"Yamasato Hanako. I would like to have an audience with Lady Yakumo this fine evening," answered the disguised Hinata in a professional tone of voice as she continued her walk towards the gate.

"Although the disguise you use is flawless in the eyes of the average nin of this village, we of the Kurama Clan are masters of Genjutsu. Who are you truly?" asked the other guard as he slyfully gestured his left hand on the hilt of his katana without breaking eye contact with the woman.

"I cannot answer that question in honesty, however if you were to direct my name to the heiress, she would be glad to allow me entry into the compound," said Hinata in a calm and collected manner, indicating that she feared not physical retaliation from the guards.

Noting the solemnity in her request, the guard then knocked on the entrance causing it to open as he passed the message to the inner guards on duty which they quickly complied. Five minutes later the door then opened revealing a tall and bearded man who was dressed in a dark purple autumn haori with two tanto swords strapped on his belt.

"Lady Yakumo is expecting to meet you in the Amber Gardens Yamasato-san," said the man in a deep voice as he gave a slight bow to the disguised Hinata gesturing her to come in.

"I thank you for your time, kind sir," she replied returning the bow to the man in favour.

As she entered the gate, Hinata was then greeted to the sight of a small wooden bridge painted purple in colour that was built over a small man-made river that spread across the area. After the door of the entrance closed, the tall man then guided Hinata across the bridge and into the compound as they walked silently without exchanging a word to each other throughout the trip.

While there were streetlights outside the compound, the roads inside were aligned with traditional stone lanterns that brightened the compound with an eerie yet soothing light which was just enough to make the surroundings visible to sight. The compound, while not as large as the Hyuga's, was considerably big enough to hold 240 members as well as other facilities such as training rooms, gardens, recreational centres, a community hall as well as a temple located in the centre of the area. The houses for individual families look roughly the same and are built on makeshift 'islands' which are surrounded by the many canals across the compound. The designs of the buildings however are rather unique in itself as they are influenced mostly by the architectural principles of Mizu no Kuni. Overall, even without the grandeur of a 'noble' clan, the compound itself was much cosier and comfortable compared to her very own home.

"We have arrived Yamasoto-san," said the man as they arrived in a garden that was filled with amber lamps hung on the branches of the many trees in the area.

At the far end of the garden sitting in a gazebo whilst reading a book was Kurama Yakumo, the heiress of the Kurama Clan. As soon as she heard the voice of the older man, she then immediately closed her book and placed it on her seat as she stood up to walk to the pair.

"Thank you for bringing my guest here Ishii-san. You may take your leave now."

"It is of no problem Yakumo-sama," Ishii replied as he gave a bow to the heiress before leaving the white-haired lady together with his mistress.

"You've seemed to take my lessons fairly well Hinata-chan. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm an heiress of a clan that primarily uses Genjutsu, I would've been fooled," Yakumo said as she gave a teasing smirk at her disguised best friend.

"I may still have a problem in concealing my chakra but other than that, I have more or less mastered the technique," replied the former heiress in a rather monotonous voice.

"Hmm… you certainly did. Alrighty then, based on your tone of voice this unexpected visit is more business-sy rather than courteous, right?" asked the brown haired girl in her usual happy-go-lucky voice.

Hinata then gave a small nod at Yakumo, a serious expression adorning her stone cold yet beautiful face. Understanding the situation, the pair then walked to the other side of the compound in silence. They then reached an odd looking building that resembled nothing like the other houses in the compound- it looked like a witch's hut similar to the ones in western fairytales- due to its rather ecstatic design? Who were they kidding. It looked more like a child's crooked drawing of a house that for some reason remained stable and standing even after breaking multiple laws of natural physics.

"Ido-kun has been rather busy lately hehehe…" said Yakumo as she gave a closed eyed smiled to her lavender-eyed friend who seemed to not react to changes to the house like she often did.

"_Something terrible must have happened if Hinata-chan doesn't at least smile at Ido-kun's 'creativity',_" thought the Kurama heiress as she frowned internally at the lack of emotions- even less than usual- from Hinata.

When they approached the trapezium-shaped door, Yakumo then made sure that the door was made out of wood before touching it- the last time it was solid rock while the other time before that it was rubber. Satisfied that it was wood- oak to be exact, she then gave it a few knocks as she called out the familiar name of the resident inside.

"Ido-kun! Onee-san's here and Hinata-neechan came to visit as well," shouted Yakumo at the door loudly and due to it being night time, her shouts were even louder.

"COMING NEE-SAN!" shouted the voice of a young boy behind the door as sounds of breaking glass, heavy objects falling as well as a loud quack from a duck accompanied pattering footsteps of said boy on wooden planks that was approaching the door.

The door then opened revealing a boy who looked no more than eight years old with the same chestnut brown hair as well as golden brown eyes as Yakumo, both of their skin a slightly pale yellow in colour. However, the major difference between the two was rather obvious actually- atop the boy's head were two short ram-like horns as well as small fangs protruding out of his mouth as he gave the two girls his patented joyful smile.

"Okaeri Onee-san. Are you staying here for the night? And hello there Hina-neechan!" he said excitedly before jumping into the Hyuga girl and giving her a hug which prompted her Genjutsu to drop.

The boy was hanging onto Hinata like a baby monkey to its mother but that did not bother the former heiress in the slightest. Yakumo who was watching the scene was pleased to notice a ghost of a small smile appear on the girl's face as she hugged Ido back- albeit with differing intensity of course. Her dear little brother had always been the light of her life, even if he used to be the cause of her stunted growth and ostracization.

Kurama Ido or Ido for short was a very peculiar boy- he wasn't born exactly a boy in the first place. While the Kurama Clan were indeed masters of the Illusionary Arts, Yakumo however was gifted with an aptitude and prowess never before seen in the folds of her ancestors. The earliest account of her spectacular oddities was during her 3rd birthday party when she made a panda appear in her bedroom after drawing a picture of said creature on a piece of paper. The panda of course was originally from the village's petting zoo and had suddenly disappeared into thin air while it was being fed the moment Yakumo finished her drawing.

At first the Kurama were absolutely thrilled to have discovered the heiress's gift as generations upon generations of study could not achieve what little Yakumo could do. It was a dream come true for their fellow illusionists- to bring their work to life. And so, the over-enthusiastic ones did as much as they could to train her excessively at an early age in the shinobi arts. However, their zealous foresight had led them to neglect the need for a child to grow up as a child, hence the result of said training was as so.

Disastrous.

The tantrum of a six year old girl who wanted to play with her dolls rather than train would often be put aside and scoffed at by adults who extended their authority over children due to their greater age. But then, this fact was not often followed in the norm. For a young Yakumo however, she took their forceful actions as a threat and so it was no surprise to see five elders and two active Jounin getting hospitalized for two weeks-as well as traumatized- due to Genjutsu related violence.

Yet, instead of learning from their past mistakes, the Kurama were more inclined to take the extreme opposite of their previous actions and blame the young heiress for her retaliation. So with much stupidity, they then sealed her powers at the reluctance of Yuhi Kurenai, an Elite Chunin at the time who was responsible for the sealing. This would prove extremely troublesome as time went on.

From the pedestal of prominence fell the young heiress to one of scorn and irrational fear. After the sealing was done, she was then treated as an outcast in her own home- even her own father had foolishly followed in their footsteps, an experience which was similar but not quite, to a sun-kissed blond she knew and cared for. The isolation, it was painful and when they took her powers away from her, she felt empty; incomplete as if her own eyes were sealed in the process making her feel blind. The sealing also had other consequences however, most notable would be her body weakening due to the unhealthy accumulation of Yin Chakra in her system.

Other than her own mother who stood by her side with love and care, no one ever interacted with her after the incident. To create a physical representation of a demonic entity worthy of inciting fear on par with the Kyuubi at the age of six, what was there not to fear about the Kurama heiress? However, the logic of the situation was as that; Yakumo was still and have always been a human child with human feelings. She was not to blame, she was merely a victim of power-hungry individuals who wished to turn her into a weapon.

And this is where Ido comes in.

Due to the lack of companionship amongst her clansmen, the little girl had 'made-up' an imaginary friend in her mind to keep her company. She would often venture in her own thoughts and stay there for days even- time flows differently in the mindscape compared to that of reality- and she had befriended the so-called 'demonic-entity' that scared the life out of her clan-members.

Well to be fair, he **was** particularly scary-looking. Especially if one considered the fact that he looked like a crossbreed between a ghoul and an Oni.

And so as time went on the two became as close as siblings, Ido-kun wanting to be her little brother and recognized himself as being five years younger than her. Due to the unique abilities that Ido-kun possessed, he could transform into anything he wished and so the form he most preferred was the younger boy-counterpart of Yakumo albeit with horns and fangs.

It was only at age 11 did the seal eventually break.

Because of the internal fear of some of the 'unruly' members of the clan, they had plotted to assassinate Yakumo by stabbing her with a poisoned dagger while she was spending her time alone at the gazebo of the Amber Gardens. Their attempt was nearly successful and after the Kurama heiress was stabbed in the back, they thought they had done a favor to the clan and village by ridding the world of another 'demon'.

Oh how wrong they were.

They only allowed it to escape.

And thus with three bodies bagged in a morgue, a mortified yet thankful father, a crying mother, a surprised Kurenai, an understanding Hokage, an A-ranked secret and one free 'demon', Yakumo had never been as happy since.

"Would you like some tea Hina-oneechan, Oneesan? I just made a fresh batch and have some leftover cookies Mama made for me," said Ido as he let go of Hinata and brought them inside the living room which to their surprise looked absolutely normal minus the purple polkadot themed furniture.

"That's fine Ido-kun. What flavour of tea by the way?" asked the Kurama heiress as she sat down on a comfortable looking armchair.

"Cinnamon and chamomile tea. I had a feeling Hina-oneechan would be coming tonight," said the boy as he entered the kitchen to retrieve the tea pot.

The living room was silent for a moment as Ido went off to the kitchen. Hinata, although somewhat satisfied that her favourite tea flavour was being served to her, was still lost in thought over the overwhelming turn of events that occured today. Her 'mask' made it all the more difficult for her. She knew that if she were to take it off, it would break her completely. However, if there was a person she trusted to understand her lover's feelings of abandonment even slightly, it was her best friend.

Three minutes later, Ido then returned from the kitchen and brought with him a tray carrying a porcelain tea kettle with roses designs hand-painted on it, three tea cups from the same set, three silver teaspoons, two porcelain containers with either brown or white sugar in them, and a small milk cup for Yakumo who preferred milk over sugar.

After the tea was poured and the cookies served the three then took a moment of silence to enjoy their warm beverage and sweet delicacies- more so for Hinata who loved sweets- before returning to the obvious matter at hand.

"I believe that business should be conducted in a more secure location," said the former heiress in a serious voice breaking the silent atmosphere of the room.

Ido who was well-aware of the security concerns gave a solemn nod to her sister-figure who acknowledged him back before dispelling in a poof as smoke filled the room, only for the smoke to disperse away in seconds.

"Ido-kun's back in my mind now so…" Yakumo said in a matter-of-fact tone as she offered her hand to Hinata to hold.

Without hesitation the former heiress then grabbed her best friend's hand while preparing her mental walls for what was about to come. She was also flaring her chakra out in a uniform fashion in order to lessen the effects of Yakumo's jutsu knowing the sensation to be far from than pleasant after experiencing it multiple times first hand.

"Ninpou: Mind Castle Jutsu"

The world suddenly became dark.

...

She… she couldn't believe it.

The boy she respected and cared for above all else, he had tried to-

No. What's most important now was that he was still alive.

There was no shame in admitting that she had been crying the whole time. Her heart, it faltered beat after beat as she listened to the detailed accounts of the incident through sobs and uneven whispers of a very broken girl. Although said girl was a year younger than her, she could not help but see how little she was in actuality. To think that behind the stone cold walls that was built around her outer appearance, was a very damaged child that was forced to make choices that were beyond that of even the strongest souls.

She couldn't imagine herself handling such a burden, even more so to be in her shoes as of this moment.

As she held the former heiress in her arms, she did her best to comfort her like her mother did when she was but a child. No amount of words or actions could ever change what has already happened. However, she knew that the younger girl needed as much support as she could get especially now that she was fighting an uphill battle against everyone else.

To her Hyuga Hinata wasn't just her best friend, she was also her sister.

And as her _Nee-san_, she would do everything it takes to help her...

As well as to pay tribute to a boy whose family had guided hers to might and glory at the cost of their own.

The Kurama; they owed the Uzumaki their very existence and by Kami and the Twelve will she honour her ancestors and belief. The Tempest of Arashi shall shake the Elemental Nations and beyond once more.

Many amongst her clansmen have forgotten; they have forgotten their oaths and pledges, ones they have made in their family temples and in their silent prayers. For when Arashi, one of the sons of the line of The Great Sage came upon their lands, he had graced the people with the Knowledge of Jutsu as well as the Teachings of his Ancestor to worship not idols made of wood and stone and that Power is but a gift from Almighty Kami. He had instructed them in his last words, before he went to slay the 'god' of the Aoi Ocean who terrorised the islands and ships that passed, to seek refuge in Him and swear their allegiance to his ancestry for it was their divine right to rule the lands he had freed. And so, the people whom he guided took his words to heart as they followed the Twelve Principles he had bestowed upon them.

The Kurama; her ancestors of old were amongst those very people- such occurred over seven hundred years ago.

Her father, he was well-aware of Naruto's presence in the village but due to his controversial status as the 'Demon Fox Reborn' and him being an unknown orphan, came to doubt the legitimacy of the boy's lineage. To hear that the accursed demon who razed almost a quarter of Konohagakure to the ground was given the name Uzumaki, it was a blasphemous insult to their faith. When a rumour about the Kyuubi being reborn into the body of a stillborn fetus had spread after the tragic attack, this prompted an attempt from her clansmen to perform an honour killing to purify the sacred name of the 'chosen family'- her only uncle from her father's side and four other members of the clan were among those who were killed in the 'Red October' incident. A grudge was then waged against the boy in question, one her father and the Elders of her clan took to heart. And they did it the only way they could.

If the demon had to live, then why not make his life a living hell?

What better way to do that than through the Village Council...

Lo! They will regret their actions in time; and regret it they did.

For indeed how could they but harm a **_true_** Child of the Akatsuki*- the heir to the Maelstrom Throne nonetheless?

(AN: Akatsuki here refers to the Uzumaki's blood red hair and eye colour)

It was she, Hyuga Hinata who brought them out of the foolishness of their ignorance by uniting them under one purpose; to rewrite the wrongs committed against him in anyway they could.

And for the former heiress, to use them as mere pieces in her dangerous game of thrones, her final goal simple, her endgame fine.

Revenge.

Hence, as Yakumo looked at the figure in her embrace once more, tiny she was in her gaze, she could not help but marvel at how someone as young as her was able to do all that she has done. It seemed ridiculous at first to imagine that the fragile girl in her arms held a network of influence and political power beyond that of the Sandaime or the local Barons but if it wasn't for her own involvement with the complots and conspiracies, she could hardly believe it herself.

But then, Uchiha Itachi did slaughter 1509 members of his clan, 540 of them being ninja by himself at age 13 in one night …

Come to think about it, Hinata's position seemed much more logical compared to the latter however it may be.

While an hour was spent by the pair in each other's embrace, a mere second had passed in real time outside of their subconscious. Such was the specialty of Yakumo's Jutsu. While the Yamanaka were considered the premiers with regards to their mastery of mind-based techniques, Yakumo however was able to replicate their jutsu to a similar fashion due to her strong affinity towards Yin Chakra. During the Warring Clans Period, the Kurama had battled and emerged victorious against the Yamanaka who at that time were enemies to Uzu no Kuni due to their roles in several attacks against trading ships and a military vessel belonging to the royal family. This lead them to the capture of several important documents containing the Yamanaka's prized family jutsus which were eventually assimilated in their own techniques.

The _Mind Palace Jutsu_ was one of these techniques, albeit one of the high level ones.

It was most unfortunate that she was the only one in the clan who could do it without the risk of falling into a coma.

Well, she couldn't do it without Ido-kun however. Such was the reason why she needed him to be dispel from her possessed Shadow Clone in the first place; he was both the failsafe and amplifier of the technique.

"... _I-I-I want-ted t-to no.. I **n-needed** to go there b-b-but I t-tripped and and.. Ko-nisan he.. he s-st-stopped me then I remem-membered Nee-san. I remembered…_" a broken voice of a girl whimpered, warm tears flowing from her beautiful lavender eyes.

"_I love him. I love him so m-much that that that... *momentarily stops to take in deep breaths while snivelling at the same time* t-the very thought of him in p-pain hurts m-me so much._"

Hinata then looked directly into Yakumo's eyes, her face red and dishevelled, a far cry from the noble poise she wore in front of others. "_But y-you kn-know what…? I-I'm the cause of his pain_… I'm the o-one who h-**hurt N-Naruto-kun. It's because of me he almost died today. It's all my fault. IT SHOULD BE ME THERE AT THE HOSPITAL NOT HIM. I BROKE NARUTO-KUN NEESAN I BROKE HIM!!!**" Hinata cried out aloud as she tried to hit herself only to be stopped by the elder girl who tightened her hold on the former heiress, stroking her head in affection as she hushed the girl like a mother counseling a child.

"_It's okay Hinata… it's okay… it's not your fault…_ " whispered Yakumo in her right ear.

Hinata continued to cry tirades of tears as she held onto her sister-like figure tightly, her body numbing while her mind remaining disoriented. Twelve months. Twelve months had it been since she left her beloved without a word, twelve months had it been since she ignored him completely and treated him like he didn't exist, twelve months had it been since she was forced to show affection publicly to a wretched individual who she abhorred over everyone else, twelve months had it been since she pretended to be someone else in front of the others, pretending to be happy with all that was happening to her…

All of this as he watched her from the sidelines, his heart broken to pieces while his spirit wavered in grief.

She had hurt him by betraying him in the most heinous of ways.

Yet, a moment's glance into his cerulean blue eyes was an emotion so pure and kind that pierced through her soul with guilt and regret at every second passed of neglecting him.

Love.

Even after all she did to him, he had never stopped loving her…

She… she didn't deserve his affection nor was she worthy of being **his**.

Like her, he was pretending; pretending to be alright as if nothing's wrong while in truth he had the absolute reason to fall into the shambles of hopelessness and despair. No one noticed. Most didn't give a damn. His musings were so well-hidden and fine to prying eyes that not even those who possessed a close bond with him like Iruka-sensei or the Ichiraku's had any idea of the inner machinations nor the true state of her beloved. With regards to the particularity of his mastery over the Art of Concealment, one could not even deny his status as a prodigy of the Masque.

So fine was his art… Not even the one who was hailed the _Shinobi no Kami_ could've sensed his passion's plight.

All except the one who abandoned him long before; she, Hyuga Hinata, the one who removed light from cerulean blue eyes once more.

How… how could she hurt him so?

How was she able to numb herself and sleep peacefully at night knowing that her beloved was lost in _Majnun_?

(AN: Majnun - Arabic word meaning insanity)

Like_ Qis ibn-Maluuh_ towards _Leila_, an affliction had he received of mortal's sorrow; to possess love in both body and soul only for it to be unrequited - Nevertheless, Nevermore.

The irony of it all, _Leila Majnun_ was her most favoured story of the _101 Poems of the Court of Roses _ever since she listened to it the first time from her mother winters ago. To be loved like _Leila_; it had always been her dream as a child to receive such affection that transcended even the boundaries of the mortal plane.

Yet, when Kami had answered her wish, what began originally as a heart's delight had became an accursed nightmare. So twisted was the reality of it all that it turned one so innocent as Hyuga Hinata to darkness, her purity now tainted and vilified.

And then she felt it.

Anger. Rage. Hatred. Kindred emotions of the sort that was burning through her veins and spirit, fiery wrath that could put a heartless tyrant to shame.

At that instant, Hinata had immediately released herself from Yakumo as she turned away from the Kurama heiress, her chakra flaring while her Killing Intent potent. Images of her 'list' flashed through her eyes, names and profiles of the ones she marked flooded through her senses.

...

_Shimura Danzo, unofficial advisor to the Sandaime and head of the twisted Ne (Root), an organization he refused to shut down even after an official prorogation order from Hiruzen himself. Claiming himself to be the Kage no Hokage, he and his organization are able to perform tasks that were deemed too dark for even the ANBU Black Ops of the village. He is a zealot of the worst kind, a utilitarian that believes that the end justifies the means. All for the sake of the village he says; such was his guise. The man is a power hungry megalomaniac. Nothing more, nothing less._

_Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, official advisors and ex-teammates of the Hokage under the tutelage of the Nidaime. Known for their oligarchic and elitists tendencies, the two would often use the Sandaime's position to increase their own prestige and power in Konoha and Hi no Kuni much to Hiruzen's quiet dismay. The two are also said to be in close contact to Uchako Mari and Kane Tora, the feudal lords of Nakagawa and Kintetsu province respectively and staut supporters of the current Daimyo who were rumoured to have supplied arms to Kirigakure and were actively involved in the Bloodline Purges conducted by the Mizukage. It was confirmed by Hunter that the two old bats had used their influence in the Shinobi and Civilian Council to deter Konoha from investigating the allegations against the two Lords even after several requests from the Royal Prosecutor's Office in the capital to do so._

_And that's just the tip of the iceberg of scandals that the two were involved in._

_Shinzo Ari, head of the Civilian Council and successful businessman in the textile and construction industry, owning over 25 companies across the country. He is a very devious sort, often using unconventional means and methods to win contracts and remove competitors that threatened his business. No formal investigation has been made against him and anybody who dared to cross him wrongly would end up 'missing' under 'mysterious circumstances'._

_Watanabe Kuroi, Jounin of Konohagakure and a former member of the Secret Archives Division in the TI Department. Due to severe injury received during an A-Rank Mission in Lightning Country, the man was removed from active duty and was reassigned to the Education Department as Assistant Head Master of the village's Ninja Academy. Reports suggested that he is an agent for both the Civilian Council and Shimura Danzo._

_Hyuga Hidorashi, head of the 3rd Branch of the Main Family and one of the 24 Elders of the Hyuga Clan. Stoned faced and emotionless, the man is a hardlined traditionalist and is very vocal against the Branch Family's rights, treating them as nothing more than slaves. He is an opportunist of the most cunning kind and would do anything within him reach to secure what he wanted, no matter the consequences, even if it meant slander and murder._

…

The names, they went on and on

…

_Haruno Mebuki_

_Shinzen Takuma_

_Nara Yami_

_Akimichi Choza_

_Yamanaka Haru_

…

The flames of her anger, so intense were they such that the reality around her had started to decay. Ido who was floating in a corner close behind Yakumo was experiencing an emotion he often felt when others were to witness his true form; fear. For a demonic entity such as himself to cower as so, it was proof of how much power she had gained over the year.

To say that she could defeat the Jounin of the village more so the Hokage was too much of a stretch in actuality- if given the opportunity she would not last even a minute against Hiruzen Sarutobi. However, what made her all the more deadly wasn't the fact that she was prodigious like a young Hatake Kakashi; it was the untapped potential she had to surpass even that of the Hokage.

…

_Chiro Gorou_

_Hamamoto Daichi_

_Gima Katashi_

_Fukuhara Kenji_

_Kita Ryouta_

_…_

After that dreaded day, the former Hyuga heiress had taken an almost obsessive liking to the second Hokage. She had read zealously his works on Ninjutsu theory as well as his memoirs from the Warring Clan Period and his appointment as Hokage which she found in the Hyuga Clan Library. Not only was she fond of the man's talent and knowledge, her admiration also extended towards his ideals and core beliefs:

With regards to protecting those precious to us, all is permitted within the scope of reason. Nothing else matters.

…

_Names_

_Names_

_Names_

_Names_

_**Hyuuga Hiashi**_

…

While the man's fearful reputation was built on his rigidity and apathy towards his enemies, Hinata yearned to be a much more terrifying figure than _The Water Demon of The Leaf_. Hence it wasn't shocking at all for her to slowly accept her inner darkness.

Where there is light there is also its opposite. The potential for evil exists in every living mortal being yet either one controls said potential or gets consumed by it. While it is true that everyone does have darkness within them, not everyone's inner darkness was as **_mortifying_** as the former heiress's; a darkness that could unnerve even the Hebi Sennin in his prime.

The darkness, she spoke to her in sly and wistful tongues seducing her with the thoughts of gore and blood while whispering to relish herself in the idea of killing and fine slaughter. Instead of resisting the voices, she had taken upon herself to welcome her newcome advisors whose words she took in patient consideration. Yet, what made her all the more terrifying was not the fact that she was harboring psychopathic tendencies within her being, but that she knew how and when to use these thoughts to a maximum effect.

Hence, the final nail had finally struck the coffin.

**…**

**Uchiha Sasuke**

At last when that cursed name appeared in her head, such was the final straw that broke the camel's back. All of a sudden, a blue flame like aura had covered the girl from head to toe, a tint of purple burning between its embers. Yakumo and Ido who were watching Hinata shook in absolute fear as they felt the oppressive aura coming out from the former heiress. In a blink of an eye, Hinata then appeared at the end of the room and punched a big hole in the wall which lead outside causing a massive explosion to occur which shook the castle like a mini-earthquake.

A cloud of smoke and dust had accumulated in the air as the Kurama heiress struggled to breath while trying to stop the deterioration of her mindscape. Sweat was pouring down her forehead as she held onto the fabrics of the jutsu not wanting it to collapse while exhaustion threatened to knock her out at any moment.

"_What.. what is this chakra ..._?" asked the Yakumo to herself.

"Yakumo-neesan!" shouted Ido as loudly as he could. "Get to Hinata-neechan and calm her down now! I'll take care of the control."

Without a glance back, the brunette then ran towards the door and down the staircase in order to reach her best friend as fast as she could. Pants and tired heaves accompanied her stride as she felt her lungs burning with each breath taken. She cursed herself. Even in her mindscape was she affected by her physical conditions in real life. Although there was somewhat of an improvement to her physical prowess, she was still a far cry away from the stamina of an average Genin.

"_**Damn it! **Of all the times to not be able to use the Dream Release why does it have to be now?_" Yakumo asked herself rhetorically, cursing the situation at hand.

Due to the presence of foreign chakra exerted by Hinata, Yakumo could not manipulate her mindscape to her wishes, remaining powerless due to needing to maintain the scape itself. While Dream Release allowed the user of the Mind Castle Jutsu to be able to do or create things to their desires even if it transcended the laws of reality.

The cost of Yin Chakra needed was enormous- thankfully she probably had ten times or more Yin Chakra than the average Jounin even. Such was the reason why Ido-kun's presence was absolutely vital for the technique to ever work. Without him, she wouldn't even last more than an hour in the mindscape.

Shiro no Hikari was a very large western-style castle built in the Kurama heiress's mindscape. After reading so much fairytale-themed hooks as a child, she had always admired the picture books depicting the art and architecture originating from the Far Western Lands. As an artist herself, the style of western architecture was very unique indeed and could not be found anywhere in the Elemental Nations except for an enclave _Allemanian_ Kingdom, _Aare_ in between Fire and Lightning Country bordering west of Yuki no Kuni.

Three minutes later, Yakumo reached the kitchens and exited the backdoor that lead to the training grounds behind the castle. The series of loud booms continued to fill the air as the ground beneath her shook with greater vigour than within the castle. Dust-like particles covered the training ground in a haze-like mist making it hard for Yakumo to see past through the forest which made up the area. Dread and a sense of panic continued to fill her chest as she watched the trees and plant life around her disappearing into non-existence. If she was too late, then nothing could stop the inevitable.

They were going to die.

With renewed spirit, the heiress then went on through the forest passing by huge makeshift holes that laid spread across the land, it's depths reaching almost 12 inches in. Yakumo was still baffled at the amount of destruction caused by Hinata. This power, it was not human at all. Even though she recognized the genius which was her pseudo little sister, the chaos around her, it was much too fast to be attributed to her escalated progress throughout the year.

Finally, she had reached her destination, her eyes wide in shock as all thoughts of tiredness disappeared in seconds as she watched in horror and awe at the sight in front of her. Floating in the middle of a crater that looked like as if a small meteor struck the earth was a purple coloured entity that if seen up close possessed angel-like wings and pale blue eyes which had floral patterns dancing within them.

Yakumo could've sworn that her heart stopped beating for a second or two when said entity turned its intent gaze towards her. She was about to pass out even when she realized that it was flying slowly towards her direction. While her instincts screamed at her to run, her feet in turn refused to do as as she stood there unmoving like a deer caught in the headlights.

Approaching closer to her was the entity, terrifying beauty it was just a few metres away from where she stood. Yakumo had closed her eyes the moment she made her approach, not wanting to see the entity up close. All rational thought had escaped her mind, her previous purpose of coming to the training field almost forgotten. Little did she know that the power exerted by the entity was very much similar in feeling to that felt by the villagers of Konohagakure on a cold October night thirteen years ago…

She then gripped her hands tightly 'till her nails pierced sharply in her palms, her breaths becoming more errating each second passed as she struggled to keep herself conscious. Although in theory, the mindscape itself was part of the subconscious part of the human brain, the act of fainting here was not an impossibility as the experience is similar to that of sleeping without dreaming.

However, if she were to faint at this time, the consequences of her doing so would be very disastrous for Ido-kun, herself and Hinata-

She froze.

At the thought of her best-friend, the realization of her actual reason of running to the training ground struck her like a ton of bricks. She then immediately opened her eyes with much speculation as she gasped in both fascination and confusing astonishment. The entity, it looked… it looked like-

"**Yakumo, the time has come,**" said the entity in a solemn and authoritative voice that spoke volumes of the strength behind it. "**May the reign of Arashi be brought forth in haste!**"

The voice in its majesty echoed to the sky as the ground rumbled in awe of its wielder. All of a sudden Yakumo felt the enormous power surge coming from the entity fade to nothingness as the purple chakra cloak which wrapped around its host disappeared, its wings and blue-tinted eyes following suit. The Kurama heiress had noticed the obvious change in the atmosphere; what was earlier on a roaring tempest had ended up a cool and calming breeze. Her control of the mindscape, it had returned to her once more. A sigh of relief had then escaped her lips, knowing that she had avoided a catastrophe bound for her and the rest with ease.

Yakumo then closed her eyes shut, determination and calm etched upon her face. With deep breaths she began to concentrate her _Mind's Eye_ on her surroundings and imagine to the utmost detail the original structures before its prior destruction moments ago. And thus, shapes and substance had proceeded to take form, the fine touch of artistry placed upon each and every deformity caused by decay.

Such was the mark of a true artist; such was Kurama Yakumo.

Three minutes had passed and Yakumo fell on her backside out of exhaustion, her muscles aching while her heart frantic. As she allowed herself a moment of reprieve, she then opened her hazel brown eyes and was greeted with a heart-wrenchingly adorable sight.

On the soft green grass sleeping in a fetal position was Hinata-chan, an innocent and child-like expression left upon her beautiful face.

"_Naruto-kun_…" said the sleeping as a small smile appeared on her thin lips. Yakumo who heard her prince's name uttered by her imouto could not help but as well. A small shock immediately followed the smile as she realized something miss with Hinata- the **obvious** of course acknowledged by her moments ago.

"_She… she could dream in the mindscape_?" thought Yakumo curiously.

Shaking her head at the idea, she then accepted that certain things were just meant to be left that way; unexplained. Having recovered from her physical exhaustion after using Dream Release, Yakumo then stood up and approached her sleeping imouto and checked on her to see if previous abnormalities were still present in her system.

"To think that Hinata-neechan could cause that much damage," said a voice behind Yakumo as a twelve foot tall demonic creature, walked towards the two girls, its face hideous and frightening to the mortal eye.

"I couldn't believe it either Ido-kun," answered Yakumo in disbelief while carried the sleeping girl on her back.

"Our control over the Dream Release had been heavily interrupted by Hinata-neechan earlier on. Her chakra was destroying the mindscape."

"I concur that she had relinquished our control over the Dream Release and used to it to become whatever she was just now," continued the demon-like creature.

"Do you think-"

"I'm not sure whether her previous display of power was in fact a construct of her imagination or something else entirely. However, to be honest Nee-san, as a demon myself… The power she exerted… It was truly terrifying," Ido interrupted, shuddering slightly whilst sitting down.

Yakumo sighed at her little brother in agreement as she too could not explain what had happened just now.

Five minutes of silence later, Yakumo then laid Hinata against one of the trees in the clearing and sat cross-legged opposite of Ido, a serious look worn on her face- one which was totally different than her normal jovial smile. Closing her eyes one more time, Yakumo then created a papyrus chart out of thin air which was floating in between them.

"The time has come to rewrite the wrongs committed by our clan and the rest of the world towards one so precious to our people Ido-kun. The **Uzu no Akatsuki** shall reign supreme once more."

"Tell Uncle Ryuu in Taki and Aunt Kagami in Bird Country to restructure the plans for the market crash before the 10th of October. Our allies must be informed of the change at once. Inside and out," Yakumo continued in a tone of solemnity, her command said worthy of a veteran general.

Nodding at the orders made, Ido then transformed into his boy form once more and proceeded to create fifteen shadow clones of himself, all of which were immediately set off to the outskirts of the mindscape. Due to his nature as a _Yume no Oni_, he was able to travel to other minds which had established a link with his sister's mind. Initially, they had wanted to contact Naruto through the link after the _incident_ but due to circumstances unknown, they couldn't at all. It was as if his mind was a fortress; impenetrable and unyielding.

They didn't know why. The **_rumours_**, they especially Hinata didn't believe in them at all. There were plot holes, multiple of them even but even with the resources they had currently, they could not find the true answer.

Only a handful knew, and they had just recovered the list of these _few_. Such would be dealt by the former Hyuga heiress personally.

As they plotted and planned in the clearing resting under the shade of a willow tree was the girl herself, the smile she had before still present on her regal visage. She was dreaming of having her first kiss with her Naruto-kun as they laid on soft green pastures located above the Yondaime's head watching the clear night sky above.

She was well-aware that it was merely a dream but she could not help herself but to indulge in it. Who could blame her? It was truly a dream come true.

And what was the secret behind dreaming in the mindscape unknown to the Kurama heiress?

For if one were to dream within the mindscape then they had experienced the purest form of reverie not influenced by the body nor the mind. Instead it reflected what the soul yearned most.

And Hinata wanted nothing more than to love Naruto, even if he hated her for all that she did to him.

She had already accepted her fate.

Funnily enough, how much had she loathed her cousin on his annoying rants regarding the nature of Fate and what not yet it seemed that she had surrendered herself to the whims of this precarious belief as well.

Curious, curious…

An amused smirk made its way to her lips replacing her initial smile- and it was not due to the dream. All was going according to plan. Soon the world around her shall taste suffering and pain. Nothing but the will of her beloved can stop them in motion. It was inevitable.

For the heart once pure is now tainted.

Foremore.


End file.
